2016337 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had previously invited the applicant to provide comments on the proposed refusal, but no response was received. The applicant subsequently lodged an application for review with the AAT.

The central legal issue before the AAT was whether it had jurisdiction to hear the application for review, given that the application was lodged outside the prescribed time limit. The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had complied with the procedural requirements for lodging an application for review.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was received on 6 November 2020, which was after the statutory deadline. As the application was not made in accordance with the relevant legislative provisions, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the matter. Consequently, the Tribunal made no substantive findings on the merits of the protection visa application.