1705514 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who was not in Australia. The Department of Home Affairs' records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in July 2018.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 65(1) of the Act, a visa can only be granted if the prescribed criteria are satisfied. As the applicant was not in Australia, they failed to meet the criterion in section 36(2). The Tribunal had notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied the applicant did not meet the jurisdictional requirement of being in Australia.

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