Door and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs not to revoke a visa cancellation. The applicant sought review of the Respondent's decision made on 25 September 2020, which was communicated to the applicant via email on 28 September 2020. The application for review was lodged with the Tribunal on 8 October 2020. The Tribunal, presided over by Theodore Tavoularis SM, dismissed the application.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had the power to extend the time for lodging an application for review of a non-revocation decision made under section 501CA(4) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This question arose because the applicant's application was lodged outside the prescribed time limit.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the strict application of section 500(6B) of the *Migration Act*. This provision mandates that an application for review of a decision not to revoke a visa cancellation must be lodged within nine days of the applicant being notified of the decision. The Tribunal noted that section 500(6B) explicitly states that this time period is absolute and cannot be extended, and that certain provisions of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) which might otherwise allow for extensions do not apply. Consequently, the Tribunal found itself bound to enforce the statutory time limit.

The Tribunal ordered that the applicant's application for review be dismissed. The Tribunal expressed regret at this outcome but concluded that it could not exceed its jurisdictional limits when the applicant's non-compliance with the statutory time requirements was clear and incapable of being rectified.