1801433 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from Taiwan. The dispute arose because the applicant had left Australia, and the Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen *in Australia* at the time of the decision, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act. This criterion is a prerequisite for the grant of a protection visa under section 65(1).

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in December 2022. After notifying the applicant of this information and inviting comment, the applicant's representative acknowledged the departure. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia. As this fundamental criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's claim for protection. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa.