1916366 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a non-citizen. The applicant had previously left Australia, and the Tribunal was reviewing a decision not to grant the visa.

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 at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant must be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in March 2020. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the statutory criterion for the grant of a protection visa.

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