1814533 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who had departed Australia. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the eligibility criteria for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they must be a non-citizen in Australia at the time of the decision, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act. This criterion is a prerequisite for the grant of a protection visa under section 65(1) of the Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in March 2019. Consequently, the applicant was not physically present in Australia at the time of the decision. The Tribunal had notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Based on the evidence of the applicant's departure and the lack of any contrary submission, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet the requirement of being in Australia. As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection.

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