2018459 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by applicants who had departed Australia. The dispute centred on whether the applicants met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement of being present in Australia.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicants had left Australia in October 2022. Consequently, they did not meet the fundamental requirement of being in Australia to be granted a protection visa. The Tribunal had notified the applicants of this information and invited them to comment, but no response was received. Based on the evidence of their departure and the lack of response, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicants were not in Australia and therefore did not satisfy section 36(2) of the Act. As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of their protection claim.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants protection visas.