Zaidi and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for citizenship by conferral by Mr Zaidi, an Afghan national, whose application was refused by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The refusal was based on the delegate's dissatisfaction with Mr Zaidi's identity. Mr Zaidi had failed to respond to initial requests for documentation from the Department, but subsequently provided certain documents. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to review this decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Zaidi had satisfied the requirement under section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) that the Minister be satisfied of his identity. This involved assessing the adequacy and authenticity of the identity documents provided by Mr Zaidi, particularly those originating from Afghanistan, and considering the applicant's ability to obtain further primary identity documents.

The Tribunal considered the evidence presented, including Australian-issued documents such as a driver's licence and Medicare card, which demonstrated consistency in Mr Zaidi's identity since his arrival in Australia in 2012. However, these documents were not considered primary links to his identity in Afghanistan. While school documents from Quetta, Pakistan, supported his identity and provided a consistent date of birth and father's name, they listed his name as 'Syed Asghar Hussain' and his father's name as 'Syed Mohammad Amir', with no mention of 'Zaidi'. This discrepancy was also noted in a dissolution of marriage certificate. The Tribunal found that Mr Zaidi had not taken steps to obtain an Afghan passport, which is universally accepted as a valuable identity document. Applying the principles from *Briginshaw v Briginshaw* and *Neat Holdings Pty Limited v Karajan Holdings Pty Limited and Ors*, the Tribunal held that it must feel an actual persuasion of the truth of the facts before it, and that reasonable satisfaction should not be produced by inexact proofs or indefinite testimony.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision of the delegate. It was not satisfied to a reasonable degree of certainty of Mr Zaidi's identity, particularly in light of the conflicting names on the provided documents and the failure to obtain certain primary identity documents.