2116700 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from China. The applicant had departed 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 reasoned that section 65(1) of the Act requires prescribed criteria for a visa to be satisfied before it can be granted. It noted that section 36(2) specifically mandates that an applicant for a protection visa must be in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in August 2023. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia, and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2).

As the applicant failed to satisfy this fundamental requirement, the Tribunal determined it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa.