1800481 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from China. The applicant was outside of Australia at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

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 applied 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. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia on 22 March 2018. 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 a protection visa.

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