Spencer (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa, Subclass 457, made by an applicant whose visa had been refused by the delegate. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had provided a statement from an appropriate authority regarding their criminal history, specifically an Australian Federal Police (AFP) Check.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had satisfied regulation 2.03AA(2)(a) of the Migration Regulations, which mandates the provision of a statement from an appropriate authority concerning a person's criminal history. This involved assessing whether the AFP Check provided by the applicant, particularly in light of a pending court result and subsequent resolution, met the requirements of the regulation.

The Tribunal reasoned that while an initial AFP Check had indicated a pending court result, and the delegate had justifiably refused the visa on this basis when an updated check was not provided, the applicant subsequently submitted an updated AFP Check issued on 15 January 2019. The Tribunal found that this updated check constituted a statement from an appropriate authority and therefore satisfied regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant met this specific criterion for the Subclass 457 visa.