1836587 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from China. The dispute arose because the applicant had departed Australia, and the Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the 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 under section 65(1).

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in January 2021. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no reply. Based on this evidence, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the essential criterion of being in Australia and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa, finding it unnecessary to consider the substantive claims for protection.