2403981 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a purported decision made under section 65 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) by a delegate of the Minister, refusing to grant the applicant, a citizen of Vietnam, a protection visa. The applicant lodged his review application with the Tribunal on 4 March 2024, seeking to review a decision purportedly made on 3 March 2024. However, the documentation attached to the review application related to a different individual, and departmental records indicated that no decision had yet been made regarding the applicant's own protection visa application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to entertain the review application. This required determining whether a reviewable decision, as defined by the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth), had been made at the time the application for review was lodged, and whether the application had been properly made. The Tribunal also considered the applicant's failure to respond to an invitation to comment on the validity of the review application.

The Tribunal reasoned that its jurisdiction to review decisions under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) is contingent upon a properly made application for review of a reviewable decision. In this instance, the evidence clearly showed that no decision to refuse the applicant a protection visa had been made by a delegate of the Minister, either at the time the review application was lodged or at the time the Tribunal considered the matter. The applicant's failure to respond to the Tribunal's request for clarification further supported the conclusion that the application was not validly made. Consequently, the Tribunal found that it lacked jurisdiction.

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