1809915 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen. The applicant had previously been in Australia but had departed the country. The Tribunal's decision under review was to refuse the grant of the protection visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the prescribed criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant 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 criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant must be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left Australia in May 2019 without a re-entry visa. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2).

As the applicant failed to satisfy this essential criterion, the Tribunal concluded that it was not necessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.