2009408 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a Pakistani national. The applicant had departed Australia, and the Tribunal was reviewing a decision not to grant the 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 at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in November 2022. 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 criterion under section 36(2), making it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds for the protection claim.

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