Yeap and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to refuse a Return (Residence) (Class BB Subclass 155) visa. The applicant, Mr. Yeap, was offshore at the time of the refusal. The review application was lodged onshore by his mother. The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs was the respondent. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear the review application.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed the jurisdictional capacity to receive, conduct, and determine a review application lodged by a third party on behalf of a visa applicant who was offshore when the original visa refusal occurred. This required an interpretation of the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) concerning the lodgement and validity of review applications.

The Tribunal considered the provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and concluded that it did not have jurisdiction to entertain the review application. The Tribunal found that the application, having been lodged by the applicant's mother while the applicant was offshore, did not meet the jurisdictional requirements for a valid review application. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that it lacked the power to proceed with the review.

Pursuant to section 42A(4) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975*, the Tribunal dismissed the application for review on the grounds of a lack of jurisdiction.