2202876 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa by a citizen of Brazil. The applicant had left Australia, and the Tribunal's records indicated this fact. The dispute centred on whether the applicant remained eligible for a protection visa given their departure from Australia.

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

The Tribunal reasoned that under section 65(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), a visa can only be granted if the prescribed criteria are met. The Tribunal noted that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in March 2022. The Tribunal had invited the applicant to comment on this information, 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). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded it was 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.