1906046 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from Fiji. The dispute arose because the applicant had left Australia, and the Tribunal was unable to grant the visa on this basis.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant be a non-citizen present in Australia. The Tribunal also had to consider the applicant's response, or lack thereof, to communications from the Tribunal regarding their location.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in August 2019. The Tribunal communicated this information to the applicant on 25 February 2020, inviting comments by 10 March 2020. No response was received by the date of the decision. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2), making it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds for the protection claim.

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