1909266 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The applicant had lodged an application for a protection visa, but this application was deemed invalid by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Consequently, the applicant contended that the Minister's decision to refuse to grant a protection visa was unlawful. The matter came before the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether there was a reviewable decision by the Minister in relation to the applicant's protection visa application. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the applicant's purported application for a protection visa was validly made, and if not, whether the subsequent refusal to grant the visa constituted a decision that could be subject to judicial review.

The Court found that the applicant's initial application for a protection visa was invalid because it did not meet the requirements prescribed by the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth). As the application was invalid from its inception, it was not considered a "claim for a protection visa" for the purposes of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Therefore, no decision to refuse to grant a protection visa had been made by the Minister that was capable of being reviewed by the Court. The Court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the application for judicial review.