1936574 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who had departed Australia. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the prescribed criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant, who had left Australia, satisfied the criterion that they must be a non-citizen in Australia at the time of the decision. This criterion is stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act, which mandates that a protection visa may only be granted if the applicant is physically present within Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had departed Australia in May 2024. 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 fundamental requirement of section 36(2) for the grant of a protection visa. As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.