1809943 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from China. The applicant had departed Australia, and the Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

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

The Tribunal's reasoning was based on movement records indicating the applicant had left Australia in October 2019. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, providing a deadline for response. As no response was received by the date of the decision, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was no longer in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the criterion of being in Australia and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive claims for protection.

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