1500243 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to refuse a Protection visa. The applicant, a citizen of China, sought the visa on the grounds that he was a refugee or entitled to protection under Australia's complementary protection provisions. The delegate of the Minister for Immigration had refused the visa, and the applicant sought review of that decision before the Tribunal.

The central legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, and whether there were substantial grounds for believing that, upon removal from Australia to China, he faced a real risk of suffering significant harm. The Tribunal was required to assess the applicant's claims against the criteria for a Protection visa as set out in section 36 of the *Migration Act 1958* and Schedule 2 of the *Migration Regulations 1994*, including the definition of a refugee under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason. It noted that the applicant had left China legally and had delayed in applying for a protection visa after arriving in Australia. Furthermore, the Tribunal was not satisfied that there were substantial grounds for believing that the applicant would suffer significant harm if returned to China, concluding that he did not meet the criteria for a Protection visa.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision of the delegate to refuse to grant the applicant a Protection visa.