1801533 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who was outside of Australia. 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. The Tribunal also considered whether it was necessary to assess the applicant's substantive claims for protection given the preliminary issue.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia on 17 February 2018 and had not returned. 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 determined it was unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection.

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