1717028 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought review of a decision concerning their application for a protection visa. The dispute before the Tribunal concerned the timeliness of the applicant's application for review.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant's application for review had been lodged within the prescribed time limits, thereby conferring jurisdiction on the Tribunal. This required the Tribunal to determine the date on which the applicant was taken to have been notified of the original decision.

The Tribunal found that, in accordance with section 494C of the relevant Act, the applicant was taken to have been notified of the decision in October 2016. Consequently, the prescribed period for lodging an application for review expired in November 2016. As the application for review was not received by the Tribunal until 4 August 2017, it was not made in accordance with the relevant legislative requirements.

The Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the application for review due to the failure to lodge it within the statutory time limits.