Seo (Migration)

The applicant, Seo, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which affirmed the refusal of a Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visa. The primary dispute concerned the Tribunal's confirmation of a decision to dismiss Seo's application for review of the visa refusal, which had occurred due to Seo's failure to attend a scheduled hearing.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the dismissal of Seo's application for review, given that Seo had not applied for reinstatement of that application within the prescribed 14-day period following the dismissal. This, in turn, raised the question of whether the Tribunal's decision to affirm the dismissal was legally sound.

The Tribunal reasoned that its procedural rules mandated the confirmation of a dismissal decision if an application for reinstatement was not made within the specified timeframe. As Seo failed to meet this procedural requirement, the Tribunal was bound to confirm the dismissal. Consequently, the decision under review, which was the dismissal of the application for review, was taken to be affirmed by the Tribunal. The Tribunal therefore confirmed its decision to dismiss the application.