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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by YGVD, a Rohingya national, which had been refused by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The core dispute before the Tribunal was whether the applicant's identity could be established to the satisfaction of the Minister, as required by section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth).

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether it was satisfied of the applicant's identity, and consequently, whether the Minister's refusal to approve the application for citizenship should be set aside. This involved considering the sufficiency of the documentation provided by the applicant, the applicant's attempts to obtain documentation from Myanmar, and the assessment of the applicant's "life story" in light of the Department's Citizenship Procedural Instruction 16 (CPI 16) and the Australian Citizenship Policy.

The Tribunal applied the principles outlined in CPI 16, which mandates an evidence-based approach to identity assessment, requiring consideration of an applicant's identity from birth through an "identity timeline" and the assessment of three pillars: documentation, consistency of information over time, and the applicant's life story. The Tribunal noted that in cases where an applicant is stateless and undocumented, the "life story" pillar may carry greater weight, necessitating further research into credible open-source country information to test the veracity of the applicant's claims. The Tribunal found that the applicant's life story remained consistent and, after considering all the evidence, was satisfied of the applicant's identity.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the delegate's decision of 15 November 2019, which refused the application for citizenship by conferral. The matter was remitted to the Minister for reconsideration, with the Tribunal directing that it was satisfied of the applicant's identity.