2318948 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Tonga, 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 for review, given that it was lodged outside the prescribed time limit.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been made in accordance with the relevant legislative provisions. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the application was lodged within the 28-day period stipulated by the legislation following notification of the visa refusal.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was received on 21 November 2023, which was more than 28 days after the applicant was notified of the refusal of their protection visa. As the application was not made within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the application.

Consequently, the Tribunal made no orders in relation to the merits of the protection visa application, as it had no jurisdiction to do so.