1814899 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen who had departed Australia. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the requirement under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) that they be a non-citizen *in Australia* at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal noted that section 65(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) mandates that a visa can only be granted if the prescribed criteria are met. It found, based on movement records, that the applicant had departed Australia in July 2018. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant and invited comment, but no response was received by the date of the decision. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion in section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the substantive claims for protection.

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