1908813 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a citizen of China. The applicant had previously been in Australia but had departed the country. The Tribunal was tasked with determining 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 must 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's reasoning focused on the applicant's physical presence in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left Australia in December 2023. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant, inviting comment, but received no response. 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 meet the essential criterion of being in Australia, rendering them ineligible for a protection visa. 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.