2311433 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision to refuse their application for a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was asked to consider whether it had jurisdiction to hear the review, given that the application for review was lodged outside the prescribed time limit.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed the discretion to extend the time for lodging an application for review, or alternatively, whether the circumstances of the applicant's delay warranted a finding that the application was nonetheless made in time. The Tribunal was required to determine if the notification of the refusal decision was effectively received by the applicant within the statutory timeframe for lodging a review application.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was received on 2 August 2023, which was more than 28 days after the notification of the visa refusal decision. The notification had been sent to the email address of a relative who had assisted with the applicant's visa application. The Tribunal noted that the applicant's delay in lodging the review application was attributed to the death and funeral of a father-figure uncle. However, the Tribunal concluded that the relevant legislation did not grant it a discretion to extend the time for lodging an application for review in these circumstances. Consequently, the Tribunal held that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the application.

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