1925626 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) had previously dismissed the applicant's application for the visa. The applicant failed to attend a scheduled hearing before the Tribunal, which led to the dismissal of their application. The applicant did not apply for reinstatement of their application within the prescribed 14-day period following the dismissal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the decision to dismiss the applicant's protection visa application should be affirmed, given the applicant's failure to attend the hearing and their subsequent failure to seek reinstatement within the statutory timeframe.

The Tribunal applied the relevant legislative provisions which mandate that where an applicant fails to apply for reinstatement within the specified period after a dismissal for non-attendance, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss the application. Consequently, the decision under review was taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal confirmed its decision to dismiss the application.