Rahmati and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for citizenship by conferral by Mr Abdul Khaliq Rahmati, an Afghan national who arrived in Australia as an irregular maritime arrival. Mr Rahmati had provided false information regarding his name, date of birth, and family composition upon his arrival and in subsequent applications for citizenship. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether Mr Rahmati satisfied the identity and good character requirements for citizenship by conferral.

The Tribunal was tasked with assessing whether Mr Rahmati had established his identity to the satisfaction of the Tribunal, considering the discrepancies in the documents he had provided, including multiple Taskeras. Furthermore, the Tribunal had to determine if Mr Rahmati met the good character requirement under section 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) at the time of the decision, despite his past provision of false information. The Tribunal also considered whether a remittal under section 42D of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) was appropriate.

The Tribunal found that while Mr Rahmati had provided a genuine Taskera from 2003 that supported his identity, and accepted his explanation that the initial false information was given due to fear of being returned to Afghanistan and advice from people smugglers, he had not satisfied the good character requirement. The Tribunal reasoned that the proximity of the false information provided to the Department, even if explained, meant that the good character requirement was not met at the time of the decision. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant citizenship, noting that the prohibition in section 24(3) of the Act did not apply and that Mr Rahmati could lodge a fresh application with accurate and disclosive information.