Yeaw (Migration)

The Federal Circuit Court considered an application for review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) concerning a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The applicant had failed to attend a hearing before the Tribunal, which led to the dismissal of their application.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Tribunal had erred in affirming its decision to dismiss the applicant's application for review, given the applicant's failure to attend the scheduled hearing and the subsequent failure to apply for reinstatement within the prescribed timeframe.

The Court noted that the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) require an applicant to apply for reinstatement within 14 days of the dismissal of an application due to non-attendance at a hearing. As the review applicant did not make such an application within this period, the Tribunal was bound by the legislative framework to confirm the dismissal decision. Consequently, the decision under review was taken to be affirmed.