2321290 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an applicant who had left Australia. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the eligibility criteria for the visa, specifically the requirement of being in Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion under section 36(2) of the Act, which stipulates that an applicant for a protection visa must be a non-citizen in Australia. This required the Tribunal to determine the applicant's physical location at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal reasoned that a protection visa can only be granted if the applicant is physically present in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had departed Australia in January 2024. The Tribunal provided the applicant with an opportunity to respond to 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 essential criterion for a protection visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the protection visa.