1837399 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a citizen of China. The applicant had previously left Australia, and the Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen *in Australia* at the time of the decision, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act. This requirement is a prerequisite for the grant of a protection visa under section 65(1) of the Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in June 2022. Following this, 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 not in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant failed to meet the criterion under section 36(2) and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal deemed 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.