Afghan immigrant, 26, has his Australian citizenship cancelled after using a fake licence to become a truck driver
- Ali Haidari, 26, migrated to Australia by boat from Afghanistan in 2010
- He sourced a fake licence from overseas to transfer to an Australian version
- Haidari admitted he had used a fake licence so he could get a job in Australia
An Afghan migrant has had his Australian citizenship cancelled after it emerged he used a fake driving licence to becoming a truck driver.
Ali Haidari, 26, arrived in Australia by boat in 2010 before he was granted an Australian citizenship in November 2014.
However Haidari’s citizenship was cancelled after it emerged that he had used a fake driving licence to get an Australian one.
Afgan migrant Ali Haidari admitted to using a fake overseas driver licence to transfer to an Australian one so he could get a job
The revelation was made during an interview with officers from the Immigration Department who were making an up-to-date assessment of an identity.
Haidari told officers that he had paid friends in Pakistan to get him a driving licence which he then gave to Australian authorities who issued him with a Queensland driving licence in 2013.
He admitted that he had never driven trucks before he landed his current job, SBS News reported.
He told officers he ‘needed a job’ after leaving the detention centre and he had applied for jobs but he needed a driving licence.
Haidari admitted he had never driven a truck before he started driving them for a living
Haidari’s citizenship was cancelled and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) subsequently dismissed his appeal because he was not of good character.
‘By his deceit, [he] has recklessly presented a danger to other road users, and himself,’ AAT Member Roger Maguire said.
He noted Mr Haidari had a history of bypassing rules while migrating to Australia.
‘It, therefore, should come as no real surprise that [Mr Haidari] has instigated and arranged the preparation and presentation of another false document,’ he said.