2005176 (Refugee)

[2020] AATA 2259

2005176 (Refugee) [2020] AATA 2259 (23 April 2020)

DECISION RECORD

DIVISION:Migration & Refugee Division

CASE NUMBER:  2005176

COUNTRY OF REFERENCE:                   Lebanon

MEMBER:Ann Duffield

DATE:23 April 2020

PLACE OF DECISION:  Brisbane

DECISION:The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction in this matter.

Statement made on 23 April 2020 at 12:52pm

CATCHWORDS

REFUGEE – protection visa – Lebanon – review application out of time – no jurisdiction

LEGISLATION

Migration Act 1958, ss 65, 494C
Migration Regulations 1994, r 4.31

Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been omitted from this decision pursuant to section 431 of the Migration Act 1958 and replaced with generic information which does not allow the identification of an applicant, or their relative or other dependant.

STATEMENT OF DECISION AND REASONS

APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

1. This is an application for review of a decision of a delegate of the Minister for Immigration on 31 January 2020 to refuse to grant a protection visa under s.65 of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act). The review application was lodged with the Tribunal on 16 March 2020. For the following reasons, the Tribunal has found that it has no jurisdiction to review the decision.

2. As the applicant was not in immigration detention on the day the applicant was notified of the decision, an application for review of the decision had to be made within 28 days, commencing on that day: r.4.31(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

3. The material before the Tribunal indicates that the applicant was notified of the decision by letter dated 31 January 2020 and dispatched by post. The Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant was notified of the decision in accordance with the statutory requirements.

4. The Tribunal wrote to the applicant on 23 March 2020 seeking his comments on the Tribunal’s assessment that his application appeared to have been lodged outside the statutory timeframes and was therefore invalid. The applicant, through his adviser responded on 6 April 2020. The applicant appears to be stating that an error was made in the despatch of the document and therefore the applicant should be taken to have received the letter on 19 February 2020 (ie 21 days after despatch) no 11 February 2020. There is no evidence provided either materially or through a relevant argument to support a claim that an error was made in the despatch of the letter by the Department of Home Affairs.

5. The Tribunal finds that the applicant is taken to have been notified of the decision on 11 February 2020: s.494C of the Act. Therefore the prescribed period to apply for review ended on 9 March 2020.

6. As the application for review was not received by the Tribunal until 16 March 2020 the application for review was not made in accordance with the relevant legislation and the Tribunal has no jurisdiction in this matter.

   DECISION

7. The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction in this matter.

   Ann Duffield
   Senior Member