1619612 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen who had left Australia. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the requirement under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) that they be a non-citizen in Australia. The Tribunal noted that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present in Australia.

The Tribunal's reasoning was based on movement records indicating the applicant had departed Australia in February 2019. 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) of the Act. As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa.