2012131 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by an applicant from Fiji. The applicant had left Australia, and the Tribunal was therefore reviewing a decision not to grant the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criterion for a protection visa that they must be a non-citizen in Australia. The Tribunal also considered whether it was necessary to assess the applicant's substantive claims for protection given their absence from Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the relevant Act, a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in September 2023. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited them to comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the statutory requirement. As this threshold criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive case for protection.

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