4020 penalties to be widened in new legislation effective for applications lodged on or after 18 November 2017 –
The proposed amendment to subclause 4020(1) will strengthen the integrity of visa applications in two ways:
· expanding the period in which previous cases of fraud can be considered from 12 months to 10 years prior to the current visa application; and
· enabling delegates to consider instances of fraud in visa applications made, in addition to the current provision that limits consideration to fraud in visas held.
The intention behind amending subclause 4020(1) is to capture applicants who have engaged in a pattern of behaviour where they will withdraw their application once notified by the Department of suspected fraud, only to re-attempt their visa application after the period of 12 months has elapsed, using new genuine documents that withstand scrutiny. This amendment will mean that a visa applicant who is currently, or has within the previous 10 years, provided bogus documentation or information that is false or misleading in relation to a visa application does not meet subclause 4020(1) and their application can be refused on this basis.
A 10-year review period is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate measure to protect the integrity of the visa framework. There is a risk that where a visa applicant has provided fraudulent documents in visa applications, they will also give incorrect, bogus, or fraudulent information to other government agencies, such as social security and tax. It is the Department’s view that a lesser time exclusion would not be as effective in achieving this goal given the current trend for applicants to actively ‘wait out’ the exclusion period and immediately re-apply.