Shen (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision to cancel the Return (Residence) (Class BB) visa, Subclass 155 (Five Year Resident Return) held by the applicant, a citizen of China. The cancellation was based on allegations that the applicant had provided bogus documents with a previous visa application for a Subclass 189 visa, specifically fraudulently altered mobile phone invoices, and that his claimed de facto relationship with Ms Zhang was not genuine.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant had failed to comply with the requirements of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) by providing bogus documents, and if so, whether the cancellation of his visa was warranted. This involved assessing whether the Vodafone invoices submitted with the Subclass 189 visa application were indeed bogus, and whether the decision to grant that visa was based, in part, on this incorrect information. The Tribunal also considered the applicant's explanation regarding the alleged alteration of these documents by a former migration agent and his assertion that he was unaware of the fraudulent nature of the documents.

The Tribunal found that the decision to grant the applicant the Subclass 189 visa was based, in part, on the bogus Vodafone invoices, which falsely indicated cohabitation with Ms Zhang. The Tribunal considered the intentional unauthorised alterations to genuine documents to be significant and weighed this in favour of cancellation. While the applicant claimed the alterations were made by his former migration agent without his knowledge or collusion, and that he had paid a substantial sum to be included as a secondary applicant, the Tribunal gave limited weight to a donation he made to a childhood cancer research program. The Tribunal also noted that the cancellation of the applicant's visa would not automatically lead to the cancellation of any other person's visa, nor would it affect the interests of any children.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to cancel the applicant's visa.