Lakshmanan (Migration)

The applicant, Lakshmanan, sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) to affirm the refusal of his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The MRT had dismissed Lakshmanan's application for review due to his non-appearance at a scheduled hearing.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the dismissal of Lakshmanan's application for review, given that he had not applied for reinstatement within the prescribed 14-day period following the dismissal.

The Tribunal reasoned that under the relevant migration legislation, if an applicant fails to apply for reinstatement of a dismissed application within 14 days, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss the application. Consequently, the decision under review is taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal confirmed its earlier decision to dismiss the application.