1517321 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) dismissed the applicant's application after the applicant failed to attend a scheduled hearing. The applicant subsequently failed to apply for a reinstatement of their application within the prescribed 14-day period. The decision under review was the Tribunal's dismissal of the application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to affirm the decision to dismiss the application, given the applicant's failure to apply for reinstatement within the statutory timeframe.

The Tribunal Member, Ms Christine Long, applied the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and associated regulations. The Member noted that the applicant had not made an application for reinstatement within the 14 days allowed by the legislation. Consequently, the Tribunal was bound to confirm the earlier decision to dismiss the application. The Member reasoned that the failure to comply with the procedural requirement for reinstatement meant the original dismissal stood.

The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.