1901720 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who was not in Australia. The Tribunal sought to contact the applicant to discuss information indicating they had departed Australia, but received no response.

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 must be a non-citizen in Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia. Despite attempts to contact the applicant to allow them to comment on this information, no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia, and therefore did not meet the essential criterion for a protection visa. As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim.

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