2309054 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision concerning an applicant's claim for a protection visa. The applicant had departed Australia, and the core dispute revolved around whether this departure rendered them ineligible for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa, specifically the requirement under section 36(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) that an applicant must be a non-citizen *in* Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 65(1) of the Act mandates that a visa can only be granted if prescribed criteria are satisfied. As section 36(2) requires the applicant to be in Australia, and the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant had departed Australia in November 2023, the applicant did not meet this fundamental criterion. The Tribunal had notified the applicant of their apparent departure and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the substantive grounds of the protection claim. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.