2305019 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Fiji, 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 refusal decision. The applicant contended that they had not been sent the decision by the person who assisted them with their visa application, and that their visa application stated they had no such assistance or authorised recipient.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been made within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation, thereby conferring jurisdiction on the Tribunal. This required determining whether the notification of the refusal decision was made in accordance with statutory requirements, and if so, whether the applicant's delay in lodging the review application was excused.

The Tribunal found that the notification of the refusal decision was made in accordance with the statutory requirements. As the application for review was received by the Tribunal on 9 April 2023, which was beyond the statutory time limit of 28 days from the date of notification, the Tribunal concluded that the application was not made in accordance with the relevant legislation. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.

The Tribunal ordered that it does not have jurisdiction in this matter.