1916181 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who had left 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 reasoned that section 65(1) of the Act requires prescribed criteria to be satisfied for a visa to be granted. It noted that section 36(2) specifically requires an applicant for a protection visa to be in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in April 2020. The Tribunal invited the applicant to comment on this information, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2).

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