1819964 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an individual from Pakistan. The dispute arose because the applicant had departed Australia, and the Tribunal was therefore unable to grant the visa.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in March 2019. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant and invited comment, but received no response. Based on the evidence of the applicant's departure, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet the criterion of being in Australia, and therefore could not be granted a protection visa. Consequently, it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim.

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