1836461 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from Taiwan. The applicant was not in Australia at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the prescribed criteria for the grant of a protection visa. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant satisfied the requirement that they be a non-citizen in Australia, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in February 2019. The Tribunal had notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2). As this essential 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.