1908038 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Protection visa made by a Pakistani national. The applicant was not physically present in Australia at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a Protection visa, specifically the requirement that the applicant must be a non-citizen *in* Australia.

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 the applicant had departed Australia in July 2019. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the statutory criterion for the visa. As this threshold requirement 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.