Australian citizenship refusal
The Minister for Immigration or an officer from the Department of Immigration can refuse a person’s application for Australian citizenship for a number of different reasons. Regardless of why your application for Australian citizenship has been refused, we can help. We can represent you for a new application for citizenship, a review application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or an appeal to the Federal Court. We provide some general information about the most common reasons for the refusal of Australian citizenship below.
Reasons for refusing Australian citizenship
Identity
The Minister is prohibited by s 24(3) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) from granting a person Australian citizenship if the Minister is not satisfied of that person’s identity.
Issues with identity often occur when people who have come to Australia as refugees or asylum seekers apply for Australian citizenship. Issues also arise when a person has previously provided the Minister with bogus documents or has been involved in fraud.
With respect to the more common situation, where a person has come to Australia as a refugee or an asylum seeker, the main challenge is establishing their identity in the absence of credible identity documents or biometrics. Many refugees and asylum seekers come to Australia without identity documents, such as passports, birth certificates and driver’s licences, and cannot obtain those documents from their country of origin. What is then required in the absence of such documents, is an in depth and forensic piecing together of their life story from birth to present day.
Things like school records, DNA testing of near relatives, photos from a range of dates, statements from family and country information become very important in establishing a person’s life story. If it can be established that there is no real reason to doubt a person’s identity based on a comprehensive and evidence-based life story, this is usually enough to satisfy the Minister of their identity.
If you or someone you know has had their Australian citizenship refused under s 24(3) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth), has received a notice requesting further information about their identity or received a notice of adverse information about their identity, get in touch for a consultation at 08 6558 1838, schedule a call or request an appointment.
Character
If a person is not of good character at the time their application for Australian citizenship falls to be decided, their application for Australian citizenship must be refused under s 21(2)(h) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth).
Character in this context refers to the enduring moral qualities of a person. Good character is often assumed in the absence of criminal convictions and any other evidence of disreputable behaviour.
The 2 most common scenarios in which a person may not be able to establish their good character are, firstly, where they have been convicted of an offence or offences, and, secondly, where it has been proved that they have lied to the Department of Immigration in the course of making a prior visa application or in the course of making their citizenship application.
However, even where there is evidence of a person having bad character, that is not the end of the inquiry. A person can prove that, in spite of past misbehaviour, they are overall of good character. Evidence of rehabilitation, employment, charity work, caring for relatives and other good works is all relevant. If the good outweighs the bad, and sufficient time has past since the last instance of disreputable behaviour, the Minister can be persuaded that a person is overall of good character.
If you or someone you know has had their application for Australian citizenship refused under s 21(2)(h) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth), has received a notice requesting further information about their character or received a notice of adverse information about their character, get in touch for a consultation at 08 6558 1838, schedule a call or request an appointment.
Imprisonment for 5 years or more
The Minister is prohibited by s 24(4A) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) from granting a person Australian citizenship if the person has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 5 years or more unless it would be unreasonable, taking into account the circumstances of the person’s conviction, to apply this prohibition.
There is limited scope for challenging a refusal of Australian citizenship under this section. However, persuasive submissions directed at the mitigating factors to the offence, which include the person’s personal circumstances, can have the effect of persuading the Minister that it would be unreasonable to apply the prohibition.
If you or someone you know has had their application for Australian citizenship refused under s 24(4A) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth), get in touch for a consultation at 08 6558 1838, schedule a call or request an appointment.