1720167 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision not to grant a protection visa to an applicant from China. The applicant had departed Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criterion for a protection visa that they must be a non-citizen in Australia, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The Tribunal considered movement records which indicated the applicant had left Australia in November 2019. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, 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.