2015526 (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 previously 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 Senior Member was whether the Tribunal was obliged to confirm the dismissal decision, thereby affirming the original decision to refuse the protection visa. This required consideration of the Tribunal's procedural rules regarding the dismissal of applications for non-attendance and the subsequent steps available to an applicant.

The Senior Member reasoned that under the relevant provisions, where an applicant fails to apply for reinstatement within the stipulated timeframe after a dismissal for non-attendance, the Tribunal must confirm that dismissal. 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.