2305484 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for protection visas made 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 in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants, having left Australia, could still satisfy the criterion that they be a non-citizen in Australia for the purposes of a protection visa under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). A further issue was whether it was appropriate to make a decision without inviting the applicants to a hearing, given their failure to respond to an invitation to comment.

The Tribunal reasoned that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is in Australia. Movement records indicated the applicants had left Australia. The Tribunal had invited the applicants to comment on this information under section 424A of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), but they failed to respond. Consequently, the Tribunal determined it was appropriate to make a decision without a hearing and concluded that the applicants did not satisfy the requirement of being in Australia. As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal found it unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of their protection claims. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visas.