Sandhu (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485, made by Mr. Sandhu. The dispute arose when the Department refused the application because the applicant had not provided an Australian Federal Police (AFP) clearance National Police Check within the requested timeframe.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the requirement to provide a statement from an appropriate authority regarding their criminal history, as stipulated by regulation 2.03AA(2)(a) of the Migration Regulations. The Tribunal needed to determine if the documentation subsequently provided by the applicant met this regulatory requirement.

The Tribunal reasoned that although the applicant initially failed to provide the AFP clearance within the delegate's specified period, they had since submitted an AFP Complete Disclosure certificate dated 16 August 2019, which indicated no disclosable criminal history outcomes. The Tribunal concluded that this certificate constituted the requested statement from the appropriate authority, thereby satisfying regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant meets this specific criterion.