1922861 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a citizen of China. The applicant had left Australia, and the Tribunal was reviewing a decision not to grant the visa.

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 noted that section 65(1) of the Act requires a decision-maker to be satisfied that prescribed criteria for a visa have been met before granting it. The Tribunal's review of movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in September 2019. 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 satisfy the criterion under section 36(2). As this essential criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection.

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