1712277 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a person from Nepal. The dispute arose because the applicant had departed Australia, and the Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen in Australia at the time of the decision, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act. 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 left Australia in April 2019. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received by the due date. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the essential criterion under section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.