Veikoso (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Temporary Activity (Class GG) visa, Subclass 408, made by Mr Veikoso. The dispute concerned whether Mr Veikoso had provided a statement from an appropriate authority regarding his criminal history, as required by the regulations.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Veikoso had satisfied regulation 2.03AA(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates the provision of a criminal history statement from an appropriate authority. The Tribunal was required to determine if the documents provided by Mr Veikoso met this requirement.

The Tribunal noted that the initial visa application was refused because Mr Veikoso failed to comply with a delegate's request for an Australian Federal Police National Police Certificate and an Overseas Police Clearance Certificate from his home country. However, subsequent to the refusal, Mr Veikoso provided the Tribunal with an AFP Certificate dated 26 January 2024 and a Tongan Police Record Certificate dated 8 March 2024. The Tribunal concluded that, on the basis of these later-provided documents, Mr Veikoso now met the criteria under regulation 2.03AA(2).

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration, directing that Mr Veikoso be considered to meet the criteria under regulation 2.03AA(2) for the Subclass 408 visa.