Navarro (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review by Mr Navarro, a citizen of the Philippines, concerning the refusal of his application for a Transit (subclass 771) visa. The delegate of the Minister refused to grant the visa on 31 May 2023, and the applicant subsequently sought review by the Tribunal. The notification of refusal advised the applicant that there was no right of merits review.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to review the decision to refuse the applicant a Transit (subclass 771) visa. The Tribunal was required to determine if such a refusal fell within the scope of decisions that could be reviewed under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth).

The Tribunal reasoned that its jurisdiction to review decisions is established by specific provisions within the Migration Act and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act. It noted that sections 338 and 411 of the Migration Act, along with regulation 4.02(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994, delineate the types of decisions that are reviewable by the Migration and Refugee Division of the Tribunal. The Tribunal found that a decision to refuse a Transit (subclass 771) visa was not included in this list of reviewable decisions. Consequently, as the delegate's decision was not reviewable under the relevant parts of the Act, the application for review was not properly made, and the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction.