1910388 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who had departed Australia. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the eligibility criteria for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they be a non-citizen *in* Australia, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act, for the grant of a protection visa.

The Tribunal's reasoning was that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in April 2022. Consequently, the applicant did not meet the fundamental requirement of being physically present in Australia to be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal had invited the applicant to comment on this information, but no response was received. As the applicant was not in Australia, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of their protection claim. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa.