Radzi v Minister for Immigration

Radzi (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) to dismiss his application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa. The MRT had dismissed the application due to the applicant's failure to pay the prescribed fee. The applicant contended that he had not been properly notified of this failure and had therefore been denied a fair opportunity to rectify the situation.

The central legal issue before the Federal Court was whether the MRT had complied with its statutory obligations regarding notification of the failure to pay the prescribed fee. Specifically, the court had to determine if the applicant had been duly notified under section 347(1)(c) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which deals with the Tribunal's duty to notify applicants of deficiencies in their applications, including payment of fees. The applicant argued that the Tribunal's actions did not constitute proper notification, thereby rendering the dismissal of his visa application unlawful.

Justice Burnett reasoned that the MRT had fulfilled its statutory duty by sending a notification letter to the applicant's last known address. The court held that this constituted "deemed statutory notice" under the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act*. The applicant's assertion that he did not receive the letter was not sufficient to overcome the presumption of valid notification, as the Tribunal had followed the prescribed procedure for sending such notices. Consequently, the court found that the MRT had acted lawfully in dismissing the application.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.