1820252 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a Sri Lankan national. The applicant was outside Australia at the time of the Tribunal's decision. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the eligibility criteria for a protection visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen in Australia, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This section is a prerequisite for the grant of a protection visa under section 65(1) of the Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that a protection visa can only be granted to an applicant who is physically present in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia on 14 November 2018. 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 meet 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.