1814541 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen who had departed Australia. The applicant's claim for a protection visa was under review by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the prescribed criteria for the grant of a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant be a non-citizen *in Australia* at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 36(2) of the relevant Act mandates that an applicant for a protection visa must be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left Australia in September 2019. 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 satisfy the criterion under section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim.

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