1917322 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who had departed Australia. The decision under review was affirmed by the Tribunal.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), a criterion for a protection visa is that the applicant must be in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left 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 satisfy the requirements of section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa.