Zeng (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a decision concerning a Visitor (Class FA) visa, Subclass 600. The applicant, Ms. Zeng, sought review of a decision, but her application for review was lodged out of time. The Tribunal also considered a request for a fee reduction in relation to the review application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to consider Ms. Zeng's application for review, given that it was not received by the Tribunal within the prescribed timeframe. This involved determining whether the lodgement of the review application by facsimile transmission constituted a valid application for the purposes of the relevant migration legislation.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was not received until 1 March 2018. As this date was outside the statutory time limit for lodging such an application, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. The method of lodgement, by facsimile, did not overcome the lateness of the receipt.

Consequently, the Tribunal made no substantive decision on the merits of the visa review application, as it determined it did not have the power to do so. The Tribunal's decision was that it did not have jurisdiction in this matter.