RXQM and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse the Applicant, a citizen of Afghanistan, a Temporary Protection (Class XD) visa under section 501(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The Applicant, who was in immigration detention, applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) for a review of this decision. The core dispute revolved around whether the Applicant's application for review was lodged within the prescribed time limit.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Applicant was deemed to have been notified of the delegate's decision on 16 December 2019, and consequently, whether his application for review, lodged on 24 January 2020, was made out of time. The Tribunal was required to determine if the notification process satisfied the requirements of section 501G of the *Migration Act*, which dictates the form and content of notices of visa refusal and the method of notification.

The Tribunal found that the Applicant was deemed to have received notification of the delegate's decision on 16 December 2019. This conclusion was based on evidence, including an email from the Department of Home Affairs requesting hand delivery of the refusal notification and attachments to the Applicant, and a subsequent email from Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre confirming that these documents were hand-delivered to the Applicant on that date. A Statutory Declaration from a Status Resolutions Officer further corroborated that the Applicant was informed of his visa refusal and received the required documents, including two copies of the attachments, during a teleconference on 16 December 2019. The Tribunal noted that the Applicant did not provide evidence to challenge this account of the notification process. The notification documents were found to meet the requirements of section 501G of the *Migration Act*, including detailing the decision, the reasons for it, and the Applicant's rights of review, specifying the nine-day time limit for lodging an application.

Given that the Applicant was deemed to have been notified on 16 December 2019, his application for review lodged on 24 January 2020 was significantly out of time. The Tribunal concluded that there was no discretion to extend the time for making such an application under the relevant provisions. Accordingly, the Tribunal dismissed the Applicant's application for review.