1601618 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Fiji, sought review of a decision to dismiss their application for a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal had previously dismissed the application because the applicant failed to attend their hearing. The applicant subsequently failed to apply for reinstatement of their application within the prescribed 14-day period.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had complied with the procedural requirements for seeking reinstatement of their protection visa application after failing to attend the scheduled hearing. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant's failure to lodge the reinstatement application within the 14-day timeframe mandated by the relevant legislation meant that the original dismissal decision stood.

The Tribunal Member, Mila Foster, applied the legislative provisions governing the reinstatement of applications. As the applicant did not apply for reinstatement within the 14-day period stipulated by the law, the Tribunal was compelled to confirm the decision to dismiss the application. Consequently, the decision under review was taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.