1905176 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from Taiwan. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the eligibility criteria for the visa, specifically the requirement to be physically present in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion stipulated in section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which requires an applicant for a protection visa to be a non-citizen in Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Evidence of the applicant's movement records indicated that she had departed Australia in October 2021. The Tribunal 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 criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was 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.