1727616 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen. The applicant sought review of a decision not to grant the visa.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that section 65(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) requires a decision-maker to be satisfied that prescribed criteria for a visa have been met before granting it. As section 36(2) mandates that an applicant for a protection visa must be in Australia, and movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in May 2021, the Tribunal concluded the applicant did not satisfy this essential criterion. The Tribunal had notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but was satisfied the applicant was no longer in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa, finding it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim.