1913147 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for protection visas by two applicants. The dispute centred on whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement of being in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants 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 reasoned that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated that both applicants had departed Australia, one in December 2019 and the other in September 2020. The Tribunal had notified the applicants of this information and invited them to comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicants did not meet the criterion of being in Australia and therefore could not be granted protection visas. As this fundamental criterion was not met, it was unnecessary for the Tribunal to consider the substantive merits of their claims for protection. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visas.