1803121 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for protection visas by individuals who had departed Australia. The core of the dispute concerned whether the applicants met the jurisdictional requirements for the grant of such visas.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants, having left Australia, could satisfy the criterion that they be a non-citizen *in* Australia for the purposes of being granted a protection visa under section 36(2) of the relevant Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 36(2) of the Act expressly requires an applicant for a protection visa to be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicants had departed Australia on 23 September 2018. The Tribunal had previously notified the applicants of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicants were not in Australia and therefore did not meet the prescribed criteria for a protection visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visas.