2000997 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who was not physically present in Australia. The Tribunal, constituted by Member Paul Windsor, was tasked with determining whether the applicant met the criteria for the visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion for a protection visa that requires the applicant to be a non-citizen in Australia. This criterion is stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 65(1) of the Act, a visa can only be granted if the prescribed criteria are met. It found that the applicant's movement records indicated they had departed Australia in June 2021 and were therefore not in Australia at the time of the decision. Despite being notified of this information and invited to comment, the applicant did not respond. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant did not meet the requirement of being in Australia as mandated by section 36(2), rendering them ineligible for a protection visa. The Tribunal concluded that 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.