2216465 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought review of a decision to refuse their application for a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered whether it had jurisdiction to hear the application, which was lodged more than 28 days after the applicant was notified of the visa refusal. The applicant contended that a friend who assisted with their visa application had failed to inform them of the refusal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been made within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation, and if not, whether there were any grounds for the Tribunal to extend the time for making the application. The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant's explanation for the delay constituted a sufficient reason to exercise any discretion to extend time, thereby conferring jurisdiction.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was received on 10 November 2022, which was outside the statutory timeframe for lodging such an application following notification of the visa refusal. Applying the relevant legislative provisions, the Tribunal concluded that the application was not made in accordance with the law. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the applicant's case.

The Tribunal made no orders as to costs and determined that it did not have jurisdiction in this matter.