1814422 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who was not in Australia. The applicant had departed Australia in January 2019. The Tribunal sought to contact the applicant to discuss the fact that movement records indicated they were not in Australia, a prerequisite for a protection visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen in Australia, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act. This criterion is fundamental to the grant of a protection visa.

The Tribunal reasoned that as movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia, they did not meet the jurisdictional requirement of being in Australia. The Tribunal had attempted to contact the applicant via email to allow them to comment on this information, but the email was returned as undeliverable. Given the applicant's absence from Australia, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant could not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2) and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. Consequently, it was unnecessary for the Tribunal to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim.

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