2202744 (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 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 needed to determine if the applicant had provided sufficient information to satisfy this criterion, given evidence that they had departed Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in April 2022. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Based on the available evidence, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia, and therefore did not meet the statutory requirement. Consequently, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the applicant's protection claim.

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