WU v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, WU, sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) to dismiss her application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa. The MRT had dismissed the application on the basis that it was not made within the prescribed period. The applicant contended that the MRT had erred in law by failing to consider her submissions regarding the timeliness of her application.

The primary legal issue before the Federal Circuit Court was whether the MRT had failed to afford the applicant procedural fairness by not adequately considering her explanation for the late lodgement of her visa application. Specifically, the court had to determine if the MRT's decision to dismiss the application without a detailed examination of the applicant's reasons for the delay constituted an error of law.

Judge Street found that the MRT had indeed failed to provide procedural fairness. The Tribunal's decision to dismiss the application on the grounds of lateness, without engaging with the applicant's explanation for the delay, was an error. The court held that procedural fairness requires an administrative decision-maker to give a party the opportunity to present their case and to consider that case. In this instance, the MRT had not properly considered the applicant's submissions regarding the timeliness of her application, thereby breaching the principles of procedural fairness.

The court ordered that the decision of the Migration Review Tribunal be set aside and remitted to the Tribunal for redetermination according to law.