2411479 (Refugee)

[2024] AATA 3799

2411479 (Refugee) [2024] AATA 3799 (28 August 2024)

DECISION RECORD

DIVISION:Migration & Refugee Division

CASE NUMBER:  2411479

COUNTRY OF REFERENCE:                   Vanuatu

MEMBER:Peter Katsambanis

DATE:28 August 2024

PLACE OF DECISION:  Melbourne

DECISION:The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction in this matter.

Statement made on 28 August 2024 at 9:25am

CATCHWORDS
REFUGEE – protection visa – Vanuatu – application for review made more than 28 days after notification of refusal decision – applicant overlooked date – no jurisdiction

LEGISLATION
Migration Act 1958 (Cth), ss 65, 494C
Migration Regulations 1958 (Cth), r 4.31(2)

Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been omitted from this decision pursuant to section 431 of the Migration Act 1958 and replaced with generic information which does not allow the identification of an applicant, or their relative or other dependants.

STATEMENT OF DECISION AND REASONS

APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

1. This is an application for review of a decision of a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs on 6 April 2024 to refuse to grant a protection visa under s 65 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act). The review application was lodged with the Tribunal on 10 May 2024. For the following reasons, the Tribunal has found that it has no jurisdiction to review the decision.

2. As the applicant was not in immigration detention on the day the applicant was notified of the decision, an application for review of the decision had to be made within 28 days, commencing on that day: reg 4.31(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (the Regulations).

3. The material before the Tribunal indicates that the applicant was notified of the decision by letter dated 6 April 2024 and dispatched by email. The Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant was notified of the decision in accordance with the statutory requirements.

4. On 9 July 2024, the Tribunal wrote to the applicant expressing its view that her application for review was not lodged within the relevant time limit and was therefore invalid. The applicant was provided with the opportunity to comment on this view by 23 July 2024.

5. In an email on 23 July 2024, the applicant stated that she did not lodge her review application on time because she overlooked the date to lodge the application with the Tribunal.

6. The Tribunal has considered this submission by the applicant. However, the submission makes no suggestion that the applicant was notified of the delegate’s decision on any other date apart from 6 April 2024 or that the review application was lodged on any other date apart from 10 May 2024.

7. Accordingly, on the information before it, the Tribunal finds that the applicant is taken to have been notified of the decision on 6 April 2024: s 494C of the Act. Therefore, the prescribed period to apply for review ended on 3 May 2024.

8. As the application for review was not received by the Tribunal until 10 May 2024 the application for review was not made in accordance with the relevant legislation and the Tribunal has no jurisdiction in this matter.

   DECISION

9. The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction in this matter.

   Peter Katsambanis
   Member