2010575 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the protection visa applications of an Iranian woman and her husband. The applicant claimed to have converted from Islam to Christianity and feared persecution in Iran due to her religious conversion, asserting that apostasy is punishable by death and that she could not practice her faith without fear. The Tribunal was satisfied that Iran was the receiving country for the applicants and that section 36(3) of the Migration Act 1958 did not apply.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, or if she was owed complementary protection, thereby satisfying the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) or (aa) of the Migration Act. A secondary issue was whether her husband, the second applicant, was a member of the same family unit as the first applicant, as per section 36(2)(b)(i).

The Tribunal found that while the applicant had provided evidence of her baptism and her sincere adherence to Christianity, it was not satisfied that she met the criteria for protection under section 36(2)(a) or (aa) based on the information before it. However, it determined that her husband was a member of the same family unit. Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration, directing that the first applicant be found to satisfy section 36(2)(a) and the second applicant to satisfy section 36(2)(b)(i) on the basis of their family unit membership.