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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral. The applicant, VDND, sought to challenge a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to affirm a delegate's refusal of his citizenship application. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was tasked with determining whether the applicant met the good character requirement for citizenship.

The central legal issue before the AAT was whether the applicant could be satisfied as being of good character for the purposes of s 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). This question arose in circumstances where the applicant had previously provided false or misleading information to the Department of Home Affairs on multiple occasions in support of various visa applications, with the apparent intention of facilitating a favourable immigration outcome. The applicant contended that he was not responsible for the incorrect information, attributing it to his ignorance and the actions of his migration agent, and that these matters were beyond his control.

The AAT considered the applicant's submissions, including statements from associates and documentary evidence, against the Department's contentions. The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's conduct in providing false or misleading information to the Australian Government. Despite the applicant's claims of ignorance and reliance on a migration agent, the AAT found that the pattern of providing untrue information across multiple visa applications since 2011 was a significant factor in assessing his good character. The Tribunal ultimately affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that it could not be satisfied of the applicant's good character.