Gampaha Damma Sumithra and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for an extension of time to seek review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The applicant, Rev. Gampaha Damma Sumithra, sought to extend the time for lodging an application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to review the Minister's decision regarding her citizenship application. The Minister was represented by Mr. Cunynghame, and the applicant by Ms. Senanayake.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was reasonable in all the circumstances to grant an extension of time for the applicant to lodge her review application, given the significant delay of 733 days. This required the Tribunal to consider the strength of the reasons for the delay and the likelihood of success of any substantive review application, as well as potentially the public interest. The Tribunal also had to assess whether the applicant was likely to reside, or continue to reside, in Australia or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia, a criterion for citizenship eligibility.

The Tribunal considered case law which established that the greater the delay in seeking an extension of time, the stronger the reasons for the delay must be. It noted that the applicant had migrated to Australia in 2009 with her husband and three children, established a home, and undertaken further education. However, it was also evident that the entire family had returned to Sri Lanka in early 2015, with the children attending school there since that time. The Tribunal found that the applicant had spent less than one year in Australia since applying for citizenship in November 2014.

The Tribunal determined that it was not reasonable in all the circumstances to grant the extension of time. Consequently, the application for an extension of time was dismissed.