1731097 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a person from China. 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 met the criterion for a protection visa that they must be a non-citizen in Australia. This criterion is stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act.

The Tribunal noted that section 65(1) of the Act requires a decision-maker to be satisfied that prescribed criteria for a visa have been met before granting it. The Tribunal had received information indicating the applicant was no longer in Australia and did not hold a visa permitting their return. The applicant was invited to respond to this information but failed to do so. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia, and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2). As this essential criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded 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.