1817948 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a non-citizen who had departed Australia. The decision under review was made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), with Member Nicole Burns presiding.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant must be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in August 2019. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion stipulated in section 36(2). As this fundamental requirement was not met, the Tribunal found it 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.