1810106 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an individual who had departed Australia. The core of the dispute revolved around the applicant's physical presence in Australia at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant be a non-citizen *in* Australia. This involved assessing whether the applicant's departure from Australia had rendered them ineligible for the visa.

The Tribunal's reasoning was based on section 36(2) of the relevant Act, which stipulates that 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 October 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 visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa.