1711520 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from Egypt. The dispute arose because the applicant had left Australia, and the Tribunal had not received a response from the applicant within the prescribed period regarding information that indicated he was no longer in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant be a non-citizen *in* Australia. The Tribunal also had to determine whether it had jurisdiction to proceed with the review given the applicant's absence from Australia and the lack of response to its request for comments.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant must be in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia on 17 January 2018. The Tribunal notified the applicant's migration agent on 7 May 2018 that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore could not be granted a protection visa, inviting comments by 21 May 2018. As no response was received, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the criterion of being in Australia. Consequently, it was unnecessary to consider the substantive claims for protection.

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