A convicted people smuggler has won his High Court challenge to the decision to deny him a protection visa.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil refused to grant the Iranian citizen a safe haven enterprise visa last year, finding it wasn't in the national interest due to his 2017 conviction for people smuggling.
But the High Court on Wednesday ruled that decision was invalid and didn't absolve Australia of its protection obligations.
The man met all other criteria for a visa, but was denied due to his conviction.
Ms O'Neil now has 14 days to decide how she will handle his visa application after the decision to refuse one was quashed.
The High Court ruled the clause regarding a visa application being in the national interest could not be the sole basis for a rejection.
"(The clause) did not operate to permit the minister or their delegate to reconsider or revisit, under the criterion of 'national interest', matters that had already been considered as part of the decision-making process," it wrote.
"The minister could not treat that matter alone as sufficient to conclude that the grant of the visa was not in the national interest under (the clause)."
The man arrived in Australia in 2013 and was sentenced to eight years in prison with a four-year non-parole period in 2017.
Former home affairs minister and current Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had rejected his bid for a protection visa after his sentencing.
In launching his High Court challenge, the man argued migration laws can't be used for punitive purposes, a characterisation of her decision Ms O'Neil has previously rejected.
The man fled persecution in Iran, and when being sentenced a judge found he'd participated in the people smuggling operation out of desperation to be reunited with his family who were already living in Australia.
