2317473 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of the Solomon Islands, sought review of a decision to refuse their application for a protection visa. The application for review was lodged with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal after the statutory deadline of 28 days from notification of the refusal decision had passed. The applicant had posted the application, which arrived at the Tribunal on 6 October 2023, beyond the prescribed time limit.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear the application for review, given that it was lodged out of time. The central legal issue was whether the applicant had made their application for review in accordance with the relevant legislative requirements, specifically concerning the time for lodgement.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was not received within the time stipulated by the relevant legislation. As the application was not made in accordance with the legislative requirements, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the applicant's case. Consequently, the Tribunal made no order in relation to the merits of the protection visa application itself.