2015321 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by applicants from China. The core of the dispute concerned the applicants' failure to attend a scheduled hearing before the Tribunal, which led to the dismissal of their application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the dismissal of the protection visa application, given that the applicants had not sought reinstatement within the prescribed 14-day period following the dismissal.

The Tribunal's reasoning was based on the clear legislative requirement that if an application for reinstatement is not made within the specified timeframe, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss the application. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the decisions under review were affirmed. The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.