2103646 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from China. The applicant failed to appear at the hearing of their application for review, which led to the Tribunal dismissing the application. No application for reinstatement of the dismissed application was filed within the prescribed 14-day period.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the dismissal of the application for review, given the applicant's failure to appear and their subsequent failure to seek reinstatement. The Tribunal was also required to determine the consequence of this confirmation on the decision under review.

The Tribunal reasoned that under its procedural rules, where an applicant fails to appear at a hearing and does not apply for reinstatement within the stipulated timeframe, the Tribunal must confirm the dismissal of the application. Consequently, the decision under review is taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal applied this rule to the present circumstances, confirming its earlier decision to dismiss the application.

The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.