1732280 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of such a visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the requirement under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) that a protection visa may only be granted to a non-citizen who is in Australia.

The Tribunal considered movement records which indicated that the applicant had left Australia in June 2018. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Based on this evidence, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa.