1724470 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision to refuse a protection visa to an applicant from China. The applicant was not in Australia at the time of the review.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant be a non-citizen in Australia.

The Tribunal considered section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which stipulates that a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant must be in Australia. The Tribunal had information indicating the applicant was outside of Australia and had not returned. Pursuant to section 424A of the Act, the Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited a response, but no response was received. Based on the evidence that the applicant was not in Australia, the Tribunal found that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2) and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. Consequently, the Tribunal did not need to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claims.

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