1810266 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) dismissed the application due to the applicant's non-appearance at a scheduled hearing. The applicant did not subsequently apply for reinstatement of the application within the prescribed 14-day period. The matter came before Member Nathan Goetz of the AAT for review of the dismissal decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the decision to dismiss the application, given the applicant's failure to apply for reinstatement within the statutory timeframe. This required the Tribunal to consider the effect of such a failure on the applicant's right to have their protection visa application considered on its merits.

Member Goetz reasoned that under the relevant legislative provisions, where an applicant fails to apply for reinstatement of a dismissed application within 14 days, the Tribunal is mandated to confirm the decision to dismiss the application. Consequently, the decision under review, which was the dismissal of the protection visa application, was taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal applied the principle that procedural requirements, such as applying for reinstatement within a specified period, are binding and their non-compliance leads to the affirmation of the original decision.

The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.