2108895 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for protection visas by applicants who had previously left Australia. The dispute centred on whether the applicants met the threshold requirement for a protection visa, namely that they must be 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 under section 65(1) of the Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicants had departed Australia in January 2023. The Tribunal notified the applicants of this information and invited comment. The applicants failed to provide any substantive comment in response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicants were not in Australia, and therefore did not meet the essential criterion for a protection visa. The Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of their protection claims.

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