2004297 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the claims of applicants seeking protection visas. The dispute centred on whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement that they be physically present in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants satisfied the criterion under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) that they be a non-citizen in Australia. This criterion is a prerequisite for the grant of a protection visa.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 65(1) of the Act mandates that a visa can only be granted if prescribed criteria are satisfied. Movement records indicated that the applicants had departed Australia in March 2020. The Tribunal notified the applicants of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicants were not in Australia, and therefore did not meet the criterion in section 36(2). As this essential criterion was not met, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicants' claims for protection. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visas.