1827286 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen who was not in Australia. The applicant sought review of a decision not to grant her a protection visa.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant must be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in June 2019 and was therefore not in Australia. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet the criterion of being in Australia, and it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of her protection claim.

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