1822987 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen. The applicant had left Australia, and the Tribunal was reviewing a decision not to grant the visa.

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 reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in September 2019. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant, inviting comment, but received no response. Based on this evidence, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the statutory criterion. 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.