1609783 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from India. The dispute arose because the applicant had departed Australia, and the Tribunal was therefore unable to grant the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) that the applicant must be a non-citizen *in Australia*.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in December 2017. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant, inviting comment, but received no response. Based on the evidence of the applicant's departure, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2) of the Act. Consequently, the Tribunal found it 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.