2013536 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought review of a decision to dismiss their application for a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had dismissed the application due to the applicant's failure to attend a scheduled hearing. The applicant did not 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 dismissal decision, given the applicant's failure to seek reinstatement within the statutory timeframe. The Tribunal was therefore required to determine the legal consequence of the applicant's inaction following the dismissal of their protection visa application.

The Tribunal applied the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and associated regulations, which mandate the confirmation of a dismissal decision if an application for reinstatement is not made within the specified period. The Tribunal reasoned that as the applicant had not met this procedural requirement, it had no discretion to do otherwise. Consequently, the decision under review, which was the dismissal of the protection visa application, was taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.