1729767 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an individual who had departed Australia and did not hold a current visa. The applicant's claim for a protection visa was affirmed by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant be a non-citizen *in* Australia at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left Australia in June 2019. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant, inviting comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the essential criterion for the grant of a protection visa. As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim.