1503327 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a non-citizen in Australia. The applicant sought review of a decision not to grant her a protection visa. The Tribunal was required to consider whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa as set out in section 36 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and Schedule 2 to the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth).

The central legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant was a person in respect of whom Australia had protection obligations under the *Convention relating to the Status of Refugees* (as amended) (the Refugees Convention), or alternatively, whether Australia had protection obligations on complementary protection grounds. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if there was a real chance the applicant would face serious harm for a Convention reason on return to India, or if there were substantial grounds for believing there was a real risk she would suffer significant harm if removed from Australia to India.

The Tribunal considered the criteria for a protection visa, which include meeting the 'refugee' criterion under section 36(2)(a) or the 'complementary protection' criterion under section 36(2)(aa). The refugee criterion requires a well-founded fear of persecution for specific reasons, while the complementary protection criterion requires substantial grounds for believing there is a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal. The Tribunal also noted its obligation to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information.

The Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion in section 36(2) of the Act, as there was no suggestion she was a member of the same family unit as a person who satisfied the protection visa criteria. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.