2008074 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who failed to attend a scheduled hearing before the Tribunal. The applicant also failed to apply for reinstatement of their application within the prescribed 14-day period following the dismissal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the decision to dismiss the application, 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 provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and associated regulations, which stipulate that if an applicant fails to attend a hearing and does not apply for reinstatement within 14 days, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss the application. The Tribunal found that as the applicant had not made a timely application for reinstatement, the conditions for confirming the dismissal were met. Consequently, the decision under review was taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.