Waqar (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review by Mr Waqar concerning a decision relating to his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The central issue was whether Mr Waqar's application for review was lodged within the prescribed time limit.

The Tribunal was required to determine the date on which Mr Waqar was taken to have been notified of the original decision, and consequently, the date by which his application for review had to be filed. The Tribunal also had to ascertain whether the application for review was lodged within that prescribed period.

The Tribunal applied section 494C of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which deems notification of a decision to have occurred on a specific date. In this instance, Mr Waqar was taken to have been notified on 7 August 2017, meaning the deadline for lodging a review application was 28 August 2017. As Mr Waqar's application was received by the Tribunal on 29 August 2017, it was lodged out of time. The Tribunal noted that the legislation provided no discretion in such circumstances.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of Mr Waqar's application for review.