1728842 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from China. The dispute arose because the applicant had departed Australia, which raised questions about their eligibility for the visa.

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

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 that the applicant had left Australia in November 2019. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the statutory criterion for the grant of a protection visa. The Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim.

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