Poudel and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) considered an application for review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse an application for Australian citizenship by conferral. The applicant, a Nepalese citizen, had lodged his application for citizenship in April 2020. The delegate refused the application in June 2021, finding that the applicant was subject to the prohibition in section 24(6) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) due to pending proceedings for an offence against an Australian law.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant's application for review had any reasonable prospect of success, as required by section 42B(1)(b) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth). The Minister submitted that the pending criminal proceedings against the applicant meant the review application should be dismissed. The applicant had been charged with obtaining financial advantage by deception, and these proceedings were listed for a mention hearing in the Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court in March 2022.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had conceded that proceedings for an offence against an Australian law were pending against him, and that the matter was scheduled for a hearing. Furthermore, the applicant provided no reasonable basis for the Tribunal to defer the listing of the review application until after the criminal proceedings were resolved. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the application for review had no reasonable prospect of success.

Accordingly, the Tribunal made an order dismissing the applicant's application for review under section 42B(1)(b) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth).