A convicted American child rapist is awaiting deportation after lying his way into Australia.
AAP believes the man failed to reveal a conviction for raping a 14-year-old victim in Washington four years ago when he applied for an entry tourist visa.
He then failed to declare his criminal conviction on his arriving passenger card and again when he later applied for a temporary spousal visa.
The issue was uncovered about six months ago, prompting an investigation by the immigration department.
While the department could not confirm the details of its investigation, it's believed the man's visa will be cancelled at the end of the month and he will be deported.
But his departure could be delayed since he faces several serious charges to be heard at the Ringwood Magistrates' Court, including burglary, threat to kill, false imprisonment and unlawful assault.
The matters have been set for a pre-trial committal hearing in June.
The 63-year-old man, who spent time on a sex offender registry, has become the subject of public scrutiny after it was revealed he was granted an Australian visa as a de facto husband despite his past.
The immigration department says it can't demand every visitor who enters the country to provide a criminal record check and takes any breaches of the current checks in place "very, very seriously".
"If an applicant fails to declare a criminal conviction, or gains entry after providing doctored or falsified police documents, then that person would be considered for cancellation and removal from Australia," a spokesman for the department told AAP on Monday.
Police record checks from countries such as Canada already take up to four months to be completed for some permanent visas.
Police checks from the UK can take around six weeks.
About four million people enter Australia every year on a temporary entry visa.
"It would be an unreasonable demand on foreign and domestic police to demand police (do) background checks for temporary visas," the spokesman said.
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