1810266 (Refugee)

[2021] AATA 2002

1810266 (Refugee) [2021] AATA 2002 (25 May 2021)

DECISION RECORD

DIVISION:Migration & Refugee Division

CASE NUMBER:  1810266

COUNTRY OF REFERENCE:                   China

MEMBER:Nathan Goetz

DATE:25 May 2021

PLACE OF DECISION:  Sydney

DECISION:The Tribunal confirms the decision to dismiss the application.

Statement made on 25 May 2021 at 3:58pm

CATCHWORDS
REFUGEE – protection visa – China – non-appearance before the Tribunal – application dismissed – failure to apply for reinstatement – decision under review affirmed

LEGISLATION
Migration Act 1958 (Cth), ss 425, 426B, 441A

Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been omitted from this decision pursuant to section 431 of the Migration Act 1958 and replaced with generic information which does not allow the identification of an applicant, or their relative or other dependant.

STATEMENT OF DECISION AND REASONS

APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

1. This is an application to review a decision made by a delegate of the Minister refusing to grant the applicant a protection visa. The applicant identifies as a [age]-year-old male citizen of China. On 16 October 2017 he applied for a protection visa. On 23 March 2018 he failed to attend an interview with the delegate to discuss his claims. On 23 March 2018 the delegate refused to grant the protection visa.

2. On 12 April 2018 the applicant applied to the Tribunal to review the refusal decision. The review applicant was invited under s 425 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act) to appear at a three-hour Tribunal hearing commencing at 11:00am on 10 May 2021. The invitation stated that if the applicant did not attend the hearing, the Tribunal may dismiss the application for review without any further consideration of the application or the information before it.

3. The applicant did not appear before the Tribunal on the day and at the scheduled time and place. Having reviewed the Tribunal file, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was properly invited to a hearing in accordance with s 441A(5). There was no evidence that the hearing invitation failed to send. Tribunal staff telephone the number that the applicant had provided as the phone number for correspondence at 11:10am and 11:30am. The call at 11:10am went unanswered. The call at 11:30am was answered by a person who indicated that the applicant was unknown to him. No satisfactory reason for the non-appearance was given.

4. The Tribunal waited until the end of the allocated hearing time before making its decision. In these circumstances, the Tribunal decided to dismiss the application without further consideration of that application or the information before the Tribunal.

5. The applicant was notified of the dismissal decision and given a copy of a written statement setting out the decision and the reasons for the decision, in accordance with s 426B(5). The applicant was advised that reinstatement of the application could be sought within 14 days of receiving the dismissal statement and that a failure to apply for reinstatement within the 14-day period would result in confirmation of the dismissal decision.

6. As the applicant did not apply for reinstatement of the application within the 14 days period, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss the application. In these circumstances, the decision under review is taken to be affirmed.

   DECISION

7. The Tribunal confirms the decision to dismiss the application.

   Nathan Goetz
   Member