1712101 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, sought a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of such a visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they must be a non-citizen *in Australia* at the time of the decision, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This criterion is a prerequisite for the grant of a protection visa under section 65(1) of the Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in November 2019. Consequently, the applicant was not physically present in Australia at the time the Tribunal was considering their application. The Tribunal had notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Based on the evidence of the applicant's departure and the lack of response, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet the fundamental requirement of being in Australia. Therefore, the Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the substantive claims for protection.

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