1711724 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to refuse to grant the applicant a protection visa. The applicant, who claimed to be a citizen of Malaysia, had applied for the visa on 28 February 2017. The review was heard by a Member of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the prescribed criteria for the grant of a protection visa. Specifically, the Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant was 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. It noted that section 36(2) requires an applicant for a protection visa to be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left Australia in December 2018. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion in section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for the visa.

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