PHAM (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a decision concerning a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, Subclass 820 (Spouse). The applicant sought review of a decision made by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant's application for review had been lodged within the prescribed time limit. This required the Tribunal to determine the date on which the applicant was taken to have been notified of the original decision.

The Tribunal applied section 494C of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which deems notification to have occurred on a specific date if certain conditions are met. In this instance, the Tribunal found that the applicant was taken to have been notified of the decision on 10 April 2017. Consequently, the prescribed period for lodging a review application expired on 1 May 2017. As the application was received by the Tribunal on 2 May 2017, it was out of time.

The Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the application because it had not been made in accordance with the relevant legislative requirements.