2307664 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a decision to refuse a protection visa made by an applicant from Solomon Islands. The core of the dispute concerned whether the application for review had been lodged within the statutory time limit.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to hear the application for review. This depended on whether the application was made within 28 days of the notification of the visa refusal decision, as required by the relevant legislation. The applicant claimed the application was sent by registered post within the time limit, but no proof of delivery was provided to the Tribunal.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was not received until 31 May 2023. As this date was outside the 28-day statutory period for lodging an application for review, the Tribunal concluded that the application had not been made in accordance with the relevant legislative requirements. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the application.

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