2319173 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Taiwan, sought review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant claimed to fear war in their home country and had established work and relationships in Australia. The application for review was lodged with the Tribunal on 24 November 2023, which was more than 28 days after the applicant's visa application was made. The applicant contended that an agent, later discovered to be unlicensed, had completed and submitted the visa application, and that the refusal notice was sent to this agent. The applicant claimed to have been unaware of the refusal until their Medicare card became unusable. However, the original application submitted by the applicant stated that it was completed by a self-registered user and that the applicant did not receive assistance.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to hear the application for review, given that it was lodged outside the statutory time limit. This required the Tribunal to determine if there were any exceptional circumstances or grounds to extend the time for lodging the application, or if the applicant's claims regarding the agent's conduct and lack of awareness of the refusal were sufficient to overcome the jurisdictional bar.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was not received within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the applicant's case. The Tribunal's decision was based on the fact that the application for review was lodged on 24 November 2023, which was outside the statutory timeframe.

The Tribunal made no orders regarding the merits of the protection visa application, as it concluded it did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.