2214608 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by a Pakistani national. The applicant had departed Australia and the decision under review was an affirmation of a previous refusal 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. This criterion is stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act, which requires the applicant to be physically present in Australia for a visa to be granted under section 65(1).

The Tribunal reasoned that movement records indicated the applicant had left Australia in July 2023 and did not possess a visa permitting re-entry. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but received no response. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia, and therefore did not satisfy the criterion under section 36(2). As this threshold requirement was not met, 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.