Athukorala and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for an extension of time before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, brought by Mr Athukorala against the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The underlying dispute related to Mr Athukorala's application for citizenship by conferral, which had been refused.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether to grant an extension of time for Mr Athukorala to pursue his appeal against the refusal of his citizenship application. In considering this, the Tribunal had to assess whether there were cogent reasons for the delay in lodging the application for review and whether the proposed appeal had sufficient merit or reasonable prospects of success.

The Tribunal found that there were no cogent reasons provided for the applicant's delay. Furthermore, it was noted that Mr Athukorala was subject to a community corrections order, which imposed a statutory prohibition against the granting of citizenship. Given these factors, the Tribunal concluded that the application for an extension of time should be refused. The Tribunal also noted that Mr Athukorala had an alternate remedy of lodging a new citizenship application after 23 November 2023.