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Home » Adverse information: can the AAT properly treat an applicant’s failure to reply to an invitation to comment as an “admission” of a fact that is damaging to the applicant’s case?

Adverse information: can the AAT properly treat an applicant’s failure to reply to an invitation to comment as an “admission” of a fact that is damaging to the applicant’s case?

So unlike Sargent schultz is not knowing “nothing” enough, or need there be more than just “failing to reply”? The question was recently explored by the Federal Circuit Court in Bajwa v Minister for Immigration & Anor (2018) FCCA 3995.

The case was basically the client did not reply to any invitations to comment about the veracity of the applicant’s grandfather’s ( “Jagjit Singh” ) identity who was going to support applicant while he studied- sent by both the department and the Tribunal.

There was no material before the Federal Circuit Court that set out the results of any inquiries made by the Australian mission in India or by local officers of the Department in Australia, somehow it did come to pass that officers of the Department had formed the view that the person referred to as “Jagjit Singh” in the financial documents provided by the applicant was not in fact the same “Jagjit Singh” who was, in fact, the applicant’s grandfather.

Judge Riethmuller was of the view that this was not a proper basis for the Tribunal to make an adverse finding of fact. Rather, it was Judge Riethmuller’s opinion that in the absence of “some modicum of evidence, albeit slight” that would tend to prove the fact, it was legally unreasonable for the Tribunal to draw a negative conclusion simply based on the applicant’s failure to respond to an invitation to comment.

So if you, your dodgy agent or someone you know has had a visa refused due to adverse information or “Bogus” documents talk to us.

Or if you or anyone you know has an Australian Visa refused, rejected or cancelled due to police history or character grounds contact us to discuss your Appeal or Review options.

Remember TRUST ONLY a Master Migration Lawyer andmake an appointment with AR LAW Services: Master Migration Lawyer.

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Note: this update, or any previous updates on this page, do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Please call our office to seek professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content on this page