Deenalatha (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a decision concerning a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa. The applicant sought review of a decision, but the core of the dispute revolved around whether the application for review was lodged within the prescribed time limits.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the date on which the applicant was taken to have been notified of the original decision, and consequently, the date by which the application for review must be lodged. This determination was crucial for establishing whether the Tribunal possessed jurisdiction to hear the merits of the applicant's case.

The Tribunal applied section 494C of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which deems a person to have been notified of a decision on a specific date. In this instance, the Tribunal found that the applicant was taken to have been notified on 26 May 2017. This established that the prescribed period for lodging a review application expired on 16 June 2017. As the application for review was received by the Tribunal on 23 June 2017, it was lodged out of time.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the application for review.