1810695 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an individual from China. The applicant was not physically present in 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 must be a non-citizen *in* Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) mandates that an applicant for a protection visa must be in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in September 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 essential criterion under section 36(2) for the grant of a protection visa. As this criterion 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.