WQKK and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application by WQKK (the Applicant) for review of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs' (the Minister) decision not to revoke the mandatory cancellation of his Class XA Subclass 866 Protection visa. The Applicant did not pass the character test, and the central question before the Tribunal was whether there was "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation decision, considering Ministerial Direction No. 99.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Applicant's circumstances constituted "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation of his visa, despite his failure to pass the character test. This required the Tribunal to consider the Applicant's background, including his statelessness and persecution as a Faili Kurd, his history of offending, and the potential consequences of the visa cancellation, in light of the principles outlined in Ministerial Direction No. 99.

The Tribunal considered the Applicant's history of persistent offending, including driving offences and possession of prohibited drugs, which occurred even after his visa had previously been cancelled and reinstated. While acknowledging the Applicant's background of statelessness and persecution, the Tribunal found that this did not outweigh the seriousness of his offending. The Tribunal noted that the Applicant's access to medical care and community engagement were not significantly impacted by the visa cancellation, and that his removal from Australia was not practicable in the foreseeable future. Ultimately, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to revoke the mandatory cancellation of the Applicant's visa.