MU (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for review of a decision concerning a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The applicant sought to have the Tribunal review a decision made by the Department of Home Affairs, but the central dispute revolved around whether the application for review had been 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 Department's decision. This date was critical for establishing the commencement of the period within which a valid application for review could be made to the Tribunal. The Tribunal was required to ascertain whether the applicant's subsequent application for review was lodged within that statutory timeframe.

The Tribunal applied regulation 2.55 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which deems a decision to have been notified on a specific date. In this instance, the Tribunal found that the applicant was taken to have been notified of the decision on 28 August 2017. Consequently, the prescribed period for lodging a review application expired on 18 September 2017. As the applicant's review application was received by the Tribunal on 20 September 2017, it was lodged out of time.

Based on these findings, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the application for review because it had not been made in accordance with the relevant legislative requirements. Therefore, the Tribunal determined that it did not have jurisdiction in this matter.