1827518 (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's records indicated this fact. The dispute centred on whether the applicant remained eligible for a protection visa given their departure from Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen *in Australia* for the purposes of section 36(2) of the relevant Act, which is a prerequisite for the grant of a protection visa under section 65(1). The Tribunal also had to determine if it was necessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim in light of the applicant's location.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 36(2) of the Act expressly requires an applicant for a protection visa to be in Australia. Evidence from movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in October 2019. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant and invited comment, but no response was received. Based on this, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the prescribed criteria for the visa. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to assess the applicant's substantive claims for protection. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.