1801401 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from China. The applicant had left 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's reasoning was based on movement records indicating the applicant had departed Australia in January 2019. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received by the date of the decision. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia, and therefore did not meet the essential criterion under section 36(2) for the grant of a protection visa. As this threshold requirement was not met, the Tribunal found it 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.