1913912 (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 sought to communicate with the applicant regarding their status.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criterion for a protection visa that they must be a non-citizen in Australia. This criterion is stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act.

The Tribunal's reasoning was based on movement records indicating the applicant had departed Australia in September 2019. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant, inviting comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was no longer in Australia, and therefore did not meet the essential criterion for the grant of a protection visa. As this threshold requirement was not met, the Tribunal did not proceed to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.