1921610 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from Bangladesh. The applicant was not in Australia at the time of the decision, having departed the migration zone. The Tribunal's decision under review was to affirm the refusal of the protection 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 be a non-citizen in Australia. The Tribunal also considered whether it was necessary to assess the substantive grounds of the protection claim given the applicant's location.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) mandates that an applicant for a protection visa must be in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia. The Tribunal notified the applicant's representative of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection.

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