1823540 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who had left Australia. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in April 2019. 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. As the applicant did not meet the fundamental criterion of being in Australia, the Tribunal concluded that a protection visa could not be granted, and 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.