1715902 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who was not physically present in Australia. The Tribunal was tasked with determining whether the applicant met the prescribed criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

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

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the jurisdictional requirement of the applicant's presence in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia on 12 November 2017. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. 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 criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the substantive claims for protection.

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