Section 96 — Minister may request further information
Text of provision
(1) The Minister may, from time to time, by notice in the Gazette, specify, in relation to a class of visas, the pool mark for the purposes of this Act and the regulations.
(2) The Minister may, from time to time, by notice in the Gazette, specify, in relation to applications for visas of a particular class, the pass mark for the purposes of this Act and the regulations.
(3) A notice under subsection (1) or (2) operates to revoke the previous notice under that subsection in relation to the same class of visas and also operates as a variation of the mark specified in the previous notice.
(4) The Minister shall cause copies of each notice under subsection (1) or (2) to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the publication of the notice in the Gazette.
(5) This Act does not prevent a pool mark and a pass mark from being equal.
(6) This Act does not prevent a pool mark and a pass mark from being varied independently of each other. Migration Act 1958 183 Part 2 Arrival, presence and departure of persons Division 3 Visas for non-citizens cancelled
Plain English
Section 96(1) provides that the Minister may request from a visa applicant additional information that is reasonably required for the purposes of deciding the application. Section 96(2) provides that the Minister may set a time limit for providing the information. Failure to respond within the time limit may be taken into account in deciding the application.
Practical effect
Requests for further information are common in visa processing. They may request additional documents, statutory declarations, employer letters, bank statements, or other supporting evidence. Applicants who do not respond to requests for information risk having their applications decided on the information already available — which may not be sufficient to establish eligibility. Practitioners should advise clients to respond to all DOHA requests within the specified time limit and to request an extension if more time is needed.