1823463 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Vietnam, sought review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse their application for a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was asked to consider whether it had jurisdiction to hear the review application, which had been lodged outside the prescribed time limit. The primary decision had been notified to the applicant via email.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had been validly notified of the primary decision, and consequently, whether the time limit for lodging a review application had commenced. The Tribunal was required to determine if notification by email constituted effective service of the decision notice under the relevant legislative provisions.

The Tribunal reasoned that the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and associated regulations prescribe specific methods for the notification of decisions. In this instance, the Tribunal found that notification by email did not satisfy the requirements for valid service of the decision notice. As a result, the time limit for lodging a review application had not commenced, and the applicant's application was therefore not out of time. The Tribunal concluded it had jurisdiction to hear the substantive merits of the protection visa application.