Sanabria (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the case of Mr Sanabria, who sought review of a decision to cancel his Partner (Residence) (Class BS) visa, specifically a Subclass 801 (Spouse) visa. The central dispute concerned the timeliness of Mr Sanabria's application for review.

The AAT was required to determine whether it had jurisdiction to consider Mr Sanabria's application for review, given that it was lodged outside the statutory timeframe stipulated by the relevant migration legislation. The legislation required the application to be made within 21 days of notification.

The Tribunal acknowledged that Mr Sanabria's misunderstanding of the timeframe was understandable and had significant consequences for him. However, the AAT found that the governing legislation did not grant the Tribunal any discretion to extend the prescribed time for lodging an application for review. As Mr Sanabria's application was received by the Tribunal on 13 November 2017, which was outside the 21-day period, the Tribunal concluded that the application was not made in accordance with the relevant legislation. Consequently, the AAT determined that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. The Tribunal therefore made no order in the matter, other than to state that it did not have jurisdiction.