1912583 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) dismissed the applicant's application after the applicant failed to attend a scheduled hearing. The applicant subsequently failed to apply for reinstatement of the application within the prescribed 14-day period.

The central 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.

The Tribunal applied the principle that where an applicant fails to seek reinstatement of a dismissed application within the stipulated 14 days, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss. This failure to comply with the procedural requirements for reinstatement means the original decision to dismiss the application is taken to be affirmed.

Consequently, the Tribunal confirmed its decision to dismiss the applicant's protection visa application.