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

This matter concerned an application for citizenship by conferral by ZYHV (the Applicant) against a decision of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (the Minister). The Applicant sought review of the Minister's decision to refuse his application for Australian citizenship. The case was heard by the Hon. John Pascoe AC CVO, Deputy President, of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Applicant was of "good character" for the purposes of section 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth), and whether the Tribunal could be satisfied of the Applicant's identity for the purposes of section 24(3) of the Act. The Applicant's evidence regarding his birth in Iraq, lack of identity documents from Iraq or Iran, his family history, his marriage and the birth of his children in Iran, and his reasons for migrating to Australia were central to these issues.

The Tribunal found that there were significant inconsistencies in the Applicant's evidence, particularly concerning his identity and financial transactions since arriving in Australia. The Applicant's account of his life story was not considered credible, and the Tribunal was not satisfied of his identity. While the Tribunal noted that it was not strictly necessary to determine the good character issue given the findings on identity, it also observed that inconsistencies in financial transactions raised doubts about the Applicant's credibility and integrity, which are relevant to an objective assessment of good character. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision to refuse the application for citizenship.