1702770 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The applicant was not physically present in Australia at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant must be a non-citizen *in Australia* to be eligible for such a visa.

The Tribunal applied section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which stipulates that a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia on 21 November 2017. The applicant's representative confirmed the applicant remained outside Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet the jurisdictional requirement of being in Australia, and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim.

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