1609540 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for protection visas by applicants from India. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicants met the eligibility criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement of being present in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen in Australia, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act, for the grant of a protection visa. This criterion is a prerequisite for a visa grant under section 65(1) of the Act.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the jurisdictional requirement of the applicants' presence in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicants had departed Australia in February 2018. The Tribunal notified the applicants of this information and invited them to respond. Being satisfied that the applicants were no longer in Australia, the Tribunal concluded that they did not meet the essential criterion under section 36(2) and therefore could not be granted protection visas. Consequently, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive claims made by the applicants for protection.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants protection visas.