1822654 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought review of a decision concerning a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was asked to consider whether it had jurisdiction to hear the applicant's review application.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been lodged within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation, and consequently, whether the Tribunal possessed jurisdiction to consider the merits of the application.

The Tribunal determined that the application for review was received on 6 August 2018. As this date fell outside the statutory time limit for lodging such an application, the Tribunal concluded that it had no jurisdiction to proceed with the review. The Tribunal applied the principle that strict adherence to legislative timeframes is a prerequisite for the exercise of its jurisdiction.

Accordingly, the Tribunal made no substantive orders regarding the protection visa application itself, as it lacked the authority to do so.