Australian Immigration Daily News

Does anyone out there doubt that the visa cancellation powers under the Migration Act can be exercised by the Department/Minister a way that is harsh and oppressive?

If you are not yet convinced that this is the case, there is another prime example from a case that was decided by the Full Court of the Federal Court in late December – Parker v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2016) FCAFC 185 (20 December 2016).

Readers of this blog may recall the factual background of this case from our article about the decision made by the Federal Court in Parker v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2016) FCA 938.

Suppose your client has applied unsuccessfully for a visa.

Suppose further that your client has sought review of the Department’s decision before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and then, before the client has been notified of the hearing, has obtained a Bridging Visa B and has gone overseas. 

And suppose that while the client is overseas, the Tribunal finally issues notice of a hearing.

The following information has just been received from the DIBP:

Hi Education and Migration Agents, 

Welcome to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s first Student Visa Programme newsletter the ‘Agent Digest’. We will use the Agent Digest to communicate updates for the Student Visa Programme and on areas where the Department is noticing issues that may have the potential to delay processing times. 

Would anyone (especially anyone like me who has suffered a computer “melt-down”) argue with the proposition that:  “The Internet is wonderful until it is not!”?

Likewise, we could say that the ability to apply for a visa through the Department’s on-line systems is a fantastic convenience both for applicants and the Department.

Until it is not!

In a year which has begun after the foiling of a Christmas terrorist plot in Melbourne and with the horrifying news of an Islamic State-backed massacre in a nightclub in Istanbul, it is both right and responsible for Australia to question and discuss the objectives of its citizenship test.

As Immigration Minister Peter Dutton pointed out as 2017 got underway, we have entered a “new age” of terrorist attacks, and should be vigilant about weeding out the minority of people that might act to “harm us or seek to rip us off.”

Dutton is proposing that the Australian government should take a low-cost, sensible and precautionary step to help ensure that the people who are allowed to take up citizenship in our so-far safe, free and egalitarian nation genuinely share the values of the vast majority.