1827296 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from Taiwan. 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, which mandates that a visa may only be granted if the prescribed criteria are satisfied, including the applicant being physically present in Australia.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's presence in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in April 2020. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Based on the available evidence, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was no longer in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant failed to satisfy the fundamental requirement of being in Australia to be eligible for a protection visa, rendering it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim.

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