The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has refused the Australian citizenship application of an Indian origin man after a wait of four and half years for its outcome.
Sagar Shah, applied for Australian citizenship in December 2012 resulting in refuse of his application in June 2017 on the ground that he did not intend to stay in Australia or hold a continued association despite the fact that his spouse and children are Australian citizens.
After arriving Australia in the year 2006, Mr Shah more or less spent five years outside Australia and spent three and half years overseas after applying for the citizenship, which was strong rational motive for the turn down of his application.
Mr Shah he had taken care of his ailing father who had become paralyzed due to a stroke as well as their family business in India. But the tribunal did not find his reason reliable.
A senior member of the Association of Accounting Technicians, Theodore Tavoularis said, “It is, to my mind, not credible for the Applicant to suggest it took something like four years to diagnose and stabilize the father’s condition. Mr Shah has a number of businesses in Australia and India and more likely explanation of his absence was to ‘pursue his own business interest’, besides involvement in his family’s business for which Mr Shah claimed he was required to travel to India.”
He further added, “Mr Shah travelled to India despite telling the Department of Immigration and Border Protection in April last year that he would not travel outside Australia after October 2017.
The Tribunal said that Mr Shah did not produce evidence of significant ties with extended family in Australia even though his brother-in-law and his family live in Coomera in Queensland.
By Sowmya
