Jaffar (Migration)

The applicant, Jaffar, sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) which affirmed the refusal of his Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, subclass 820. The MRT's decision to affirm the refusal was based on Jaffar's failure to attend a scheduled hearing before the Tribunal.

The central legal issue before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was whether the MRT had erred in law by affirming the refusal of the visa application when the applicant failed to attend the hearing. Specifically, the court considered the implications of the applicant's subsequent failure to apply for reinstatement of the application within the prescribed timeframe.

The Court noted that under the relevant migration legislation, if an applicant fails to attend a hearing before the MRT, the Tribunal is empowered to dismiss the application. Furthermore, if the applicant does not apply for reinstatement of the dismissed application within 14 days, the decision to dismiss is taken to be affirmed. As Jaffar did not make such an application, the MRT was correct in confirming the dismissal of his visa application.

The Tribunal's decision to dismiss the application was therefore confirmed.