1612620 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who was not in Australia. The applicant sought review of 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. The Tribunal also considered whether it was necessary to assess the applicant's substantive claims for protection given the jurisdictional issue.

The Tribunal's reasoning was based on section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which stipulates that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia on 15 April 2018. 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 essential criterion for a protection visa. As a result, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the merits of the applicant's claims for protection.

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