1820539 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen. The applicant had previously left Australia, and the Department of Home Affairs had refused to grant the visa. The Tribunal was tasked with reviewing this decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant must be a non-citizen *in Australia* at the time of the decision. The Tribunal also needed to determine if the applicant's departure from Australia affected her eligibility.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which stipulates that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left Australia in August 2018. 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 essential criterion under section 36(2). As this criterion 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.