2000125 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant who had left Australia. The dispute arose because movement records indicated the applicant was no longer in Australia, a prerequisite for the grant of a protection 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 under section 65(1) of the Act, a visa can only be granted if the prescribed criteria are met. It noted that section 36(2) specifically requires the applicant to be in Australia. As movement records showed the applicant had departed Australia in March 2020, and no response was received from the applicant to the Tribunal's invitation to comment on this information, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet this essential criterion. Consequently, it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim.

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