1701627 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a Sri Lankan national. The applicant had previously been in Australia but had departed the country. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen in Australia at the time of the decision. This criterion is stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act, which mandates that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present within Australia.

The Tribunal considered movement records which indicated that the applicant had left Australia in June 2018. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited them to provide comment, but no response was received. Based on the available evidence, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the jurisdictional requirement under section 36(2) of the Act and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa.