Zhong (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review by Ms. Zhong concerning a Visitor (Class FA) visa, Subclass 600. The central issue was whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to hear Ms. Zhong's application, which was lodged after the prescribed time limit.

The Tribunal was required to determine the date on which Ms. Zhong was taken to have been notified of the decision under review, and consequently, the date by which her application for review had to be lodged. This determination was crucial to establishing whether the application was made within the statutory timeframe.

Applying section 494C of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), the Tribunal found that Ms. Zhong was taken to have been notified of the decision on 20 January 2022. This meant the prescribed period for lodging a review application expired on 10 February 2022. As the application was received by the Tribunal on 23 February 2022, it was lodged out of time. The Tribunal concluded that it therefore lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the application.