Australian Immigration Daily News

The gods must be crazy!!! 

Or the planets must be out of alignment!!!! 

I guess if “the Donald” can be nominated for President, anything’s possible! 

Will Public Interest Criterion 4020 always be toxic to your client’s visa application? 

If your client has submitted a bogus document to the Department in support of an application, will that document always be a “ticking time bomb” that is bound inevitably to “blow up” at some time in the future and be fatal to the application? 

What if the Department is notified by the administrator of the IELTS test that a test result has been cancelled because the test has allegedly been taken by an imposter? And what if the photograph of the person who took the IELTS test as shown on the IELTS Test Report Form does not “match” photographs of the applicant that are held by the Department? 

Wow!! Whoa! What! That’s just unbelievable! I’ve never heard about anything like that in my life! I cannot believe that actually happened!! Really!!! 

Yes, it can be truly amazing what you come across when looking through the cases that are reported on Austlii. Yes, you would think that it could be a “dull exercise” (that’s why you should keep reading my articles!!). 

But this case is truly astonishing, and it is really really important for everyone who ever goes to the AAT on behalf of a client to know about what happened   

Do applicants for judicial review have a right to publicly funded representation?

The Full Court addressed this very important question in a decision that was handed down last Friday, 20 May: AMF15 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2016) FCAFC 68.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are in the position of a person whose application for a protection visa  has been refused by the Department and the refusal has been affirmed by the AAT.  You don’t have money, don’t speak English well or at all, don’t understand the Australian legal system or concepts of judicial review. You just think that the Department and the Tribunal have misunderstood your case and have erroneously refused your visa.  Whether the Department or the Tribunal have found your claims to be credible or not, you have a genuinely held subjective fear of persecution:  You are truly frightened that if you are forced to return to your home country, you will be killed or tortured.

OK everyone, are you ready for today’s public opinion poll? 

Be careful how you answer! Your responses will be recorded and reported to the Department (just kidding of course!) 

How many of you will be sorry to see the current Schedule 5 risk assessment framework for student visas repealed on 1 July?