1716573 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from Taiwan. The applicant had departed Australia, and the Tribunal was reviewing a decision not to grant the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion for a protection visa that they must be a non-citizen *in* Australia. The Tribunal also considered whether it was necessary to assess the applicant's substantive claims for protection given the preliminary issue.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in August 2021. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Based on this, the Tribunal was satisfied the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the statutory requirement. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.