1917530 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant from China. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant be in Australia.

The primary 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) of the Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in January 2020. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received by the deadline. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the essential criterion under section 36(2). As a result, 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.