2206149 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by a non-citizen for a Bridging E (Class WE) visa. The applicant sought this visa on the basis of having lodged an application for merits review of a decision to refuse a protection visa. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of the Bridging E visa, specifically whether he had a valid substantive visa application that had not been finally determined at the time he applied for the bridging visa.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the validity of the applicant's merits review application. While the applicant had lodged a review application, the Tribunal found that he had been re-notified of the refusal decision on 23 May 2020. Consequently, the prescribed period for lodging a merits review application had passed without such an application being made. Therefore, the merits review application lodged on 8 April 2022 was considered invalid. As a result, the applicant did not have a substantive visa application that had not been finally determined at the time he applied for the Bridging E visa, and thus did not satisfy the relevant criterion under subclause 050.212(3) of Schedule 2 of the Regulations.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Bridging E (Class WE) visa because he failed to satisfy the eligibility criteria.