Zhang (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485, by an applicant who had failed to provide an Australian Federal Police (AFP) clearance certificate to the Department's delegate within the requested timeframe. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) was required to determine whether the applicant had satisfied the requirement to provide a statement from an appropriate authority regarding their criminal history.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had met the requirements of regulation 2.03AA(2)(a) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates the provision of a statement from an appropriate authority concerning a person's criminal history. The delegate had refused the visa application on the basis that the applicant had not provided the requested AFP National Police Check.

The Tribunal found that while the applicant had initially failed to provide the requested document to the delegate, they had subsequently provided an AFP Complete Disclosure certificate issued on 20 June 2019, which indicated no disclosable criminal outcomes. The Tribunal concluded that this certificate constituted the requested statement from the appropriate authority, thereby satisfying regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant met this specific criterion.