1709615 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by a citizen of Algeria. The core of the dispute concerned whether the applicant met the threshold jurisdictional requirement for the grant of such a visa.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant was a non-citizen in Australia, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which is a prescribed criterion for the grant of a protection visa. This determination was necessary to establish whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to consider the substantive claims for protection.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 65(1) of the Act mandates that a visa may only be granted if prescribed criteria are satisfied. It found, based on the Department of Immigration’s movement records, that the applicant had departed Australia in July 2017. Despite being notified of this information and invited to comment, the applicant provided 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). As this jurisdictional requirement 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 applicant a protection visa.