39-year-old Avtar Singh’s bid for a 487 Skilled (provisional) visa that he applied for in 2009, has been pushed back by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for the second time after it affirmed the Immigration department’s 2012 decision to refuse his application.
The Department argued Mr Singh submitted a “fraudulent” work reference of 900 hours of voluntary work as a motor mechanic, and obtained a positive skill assessment from Trades Recognition Australia for a skilled visa on the basis of this work reference.
The Department refused Mr Singh’s visa application in 2012, claiming his experience certificate came from Carmine Amarante, a former trades teacher in Melbourne who pleaded guilty in November 2011 to creating 777 false work references in collusion with some employers.
But Mr Singh continued to maintain throughout the legal proceedings that his work reference is genuine.
“I never met Carmine Amarante and there’s no evidence that I paid anyone to obtain the work reference. I received the certificate from the business owner for voluntary work that I did undertake for over a year,” Mr Singh told SBS Punjabi .
The Department of Home Affairs told the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that an “identical” work reference was found on a USB drive at Carmine Amarante’s home. The Tribunal was also told that the owner of the business where Mr Singh claims to have undertaken 900 hours of voluntary work was named among those who Amarante paid to sign the work references.
The Tribunal first turned down Mr Singh’s appeal in March 2015. However, the Federal Circuit Court found that the Tribunal had erred by not giving Mr Singh a chance to comment on the complete information supplied by the Immigration Department with regard to the refusal of his visa and said that Mr Singh’s had been denied procedural fairness.
Subsequently, the Full Federal Court of Australia also ruled in favour of Mr Singh on the same grounds in 2016. The Immigration Department then appealed in the High Court of Australia for a special leave petition that was refused in May 2017.
The matter was again heard by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in October 2019 after Mr Singh was supplied the information that he was previously denied regarding Carmine Amarante that had a bearing on Mr Singh’s visa application.
Mr Singh told the Tribunal that he wasn’t able to provide any records pertaining to his claimed voluntary work. He said that since his was voluntary employment, no payslips bank records of it existed. He also said that the business had closed down and that he was unable to secure any corroborative evidence from the business owner.
Though he provided post-hearing statements from three of his former flatmates who said they remembered Mr Singh undertaking voluntary work, the Tribunal found that the evidence regarding Carmine Amarante’s criminal conviction was sufficient to establish “an element of fraud or deception on part of someone, if not [Mr Singh]”.
However, Mr Singh says there’s no evidence that directly links him to Carmine Amarante’s fraudulent work reference scam.
“I was shown a list of names that Amarante admitted to working with. Though he named my employer, he didn’t name me and there’s no evidence to establish that I paid for the work reference,” he told SBS Punjabi.
“I can’t say what happened after I finished my voluntary work at the business, but I shouldn’t be punished for that. All I can say is that I did nothing wrong,” he said.
Mr Singh says he has moved from Melbourne to Perth where his sister lives, to again appeal against the AAT’s decision to not revoke the refusal of his visa application.
“I was told it could take up to three years for the Federal Circuit Court to hear my appeal in Melbourne, but around six months here in Perth. So I moved here because I want this to be over as soon as possible,” he said.
Mr Singh who has lived in Australia for 15 years says his visa situation caused his marriage to break down and that he has been dealing with mental health issues for the last four years.
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