1901875 (Refugee)

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

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion for a protection visa that they must be a non-citizen in Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in February 2019. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant, inviting comment, but received no response. Based on the evidence of departure and the lack of response, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the statutory criterion for the grant of a protection visa. Consequently, it was 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.