1707997 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for protection visas by two applicants from Bangladesh. The dispute arose because the applicants had departed Australia, and the Tribunal's records indicated they were no longer in the country.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that an applicant must be a non-citizen in Australia. The Tribunal also had to determine if the applicants' departure from Australia rendered them ineligible for such a visa.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records showed that both applicants had left Australia in December 2017. The Tribunal notified the applicants of this information and invited comment. The first applicant responded by email, confirming their departure from Australia. Based on this confirmation and the movement records, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicants were not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2). Consequently, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive claims for protection.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants protection visas.