1827667 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen. The applicant had departed Australia in April 2019, and the Tribunal's records indicated that she was no longer in the country.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) that an applicant for such a visa must be a non-citizen in Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present in Australia. As movement records confirmed the applicant had left Australia and no response was received from her to a request for comment on this information, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet this essential criterion. Consequently, it was unnecessary for the Tribunal to consider the substantive grounds of her protection claim.

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