1825047 (Refugee)

[2020] AATA 2014

1825047 (Refugee) [2020] AATA 2014 (16 April 2020)

DECISION RECORD

DIVISION:Migration & Refugee Division

CASE NUMBER:  1825047

COUNTRY OF REFERENCE:                   Taiwan

MEMBER:Meredith Jackson

DATE:16 April 2020

PLACE OF DECISION:  Brisbane

DECISION:The Tribunal affirms the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.

Statement made on 16 April 2020 at 10:15am

CATCHWORDS

REFUGEE – protection visa – Taiwan – applicant left Australia – no response to tribunal’s communication – decision under review affirmed

LEGISLATION

Migration Act 1958 (Cth), ss 36, 65

Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been omitted from this decision pursuant to section 431 of the Migration Act 1958 and replaced with generic information which does not allow the identification of an applicant, or their relative or other dependants.

STATEMENT OF DECISION AND REASONS

APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

1. This is an application for review of a decision made by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs on 6 August 2018 to refuse to grant the applicant a protection visa under s.65 of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act). The applicant, who claims to be a citizen of Taiwan, applied for the visa on 5 June 2018.

2. For the following reasons, the Tribunal has decided to affirm the decision under review.

   CONSIDERATION OF CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE

3. Under s.65(1) a visa may be granted only if the decision maker is satisfied that the prescribed criteria for the visa have been satisfied.

4. So far as is relevant to this matter, s.36(2) of the Act provides that a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant for the visa is a non-citizen in Australia. This means that a protection visa may only be granted if the applicant is in Australia.

5. Movement records indicate that the applicant is not in Australia. It appears that she left Australia [in] October 2019. On 25 February 2020 Tribunal wrote to the applicant advising that its records showed that she is not in Australia and therefore could not be granted a protection visa and inviting the applicant to comment on the information by 10 March 2020. The Tribunal has received no response to the invitation.

6. The Tribunal is satisfied from the circumstances set out above that the applicant is not in Australia. Therefore, the applicant does not satisfy the requirements of s.36(2) and cannot be granted a protection visa.

7. Having reached this conclusion, it is not necessary to consider the applicant's substantive case for the grant of the visa.

   DECISION

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

   Meredith Jackson
   Member