1721685 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa. The applicant failed to attend a hearing concerning their application, and subsequently did not seek reinstatement of the application within the prescribed 14-day period. The Tribunal was therefore required to review the decision to dismiss the application.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was obliged to confirm the dismissal of the protection visa application, given the applicant's failure to attend the hearing and their subsequent failure to seek reinstatement within the statutory timeframe.

The Tribunal applied the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and associated regulations, which stipulate that where an applicant fails to attend a hearing and does not apply for reinstatement within 14 days, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss the application. As these conditions were met, the Tribunal was bound to affirm the decision under review. The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.