Here is the latest update from the Herald Sun this morning for those following the case. The Dr appealed and has once again been refused
PR. However, it looks like the Immigration Minister MAY overturn the decision:
GERMAN doctor Bernhard Moeller has appealed to Immigration Minister Chris Evans after a tribunal upheld a decision to refuse his family permanent residency because of his Down Syndrome son Lukas.
Dr Moeller, a specialist physician, brought his family to Horsham, in Victoria's west, two years ago on a 457 temporary visa to help fill a shortage of general practitioners in the town of 14,000 people.
With the visa due to expire in 2010, Dr Moeller and his family have sought permanent residency.
"I'm very disappointed and tired - it's been a hard time for my family," Dr Moeller told AAP.
"The people here have been very supportive - we wouldn't have survived in Australia without their support."
Dr Moeller said that soon after the Migration Review Tribunal upheld the Immigration Department's controversial decision to deny the family residency yesterday, he received a call from the office of Immigration Minister Chris Evans suggesting he might overturn the decision.
"That gives us hope," Dr Moeller said.
"They asked me if I wanted this to be done quickly and I said yes."
Dr Moeller said he won't be supplying any further information to the minister's office because it was all given to the tribunal.
"We've exchanged emails with me asking the minister to intervene in this case," he said.
He said the tribunal told him that 13-year-old Lukas does not fulfil the criteria of the immigration laws and regulations. A commonwealth medical officer had assessed that Lukas's medical condition was likely to result in significant and ongoing cost to the Australian community.
But Dr Moeller said his family has the financial means to care for Lukas.
"I have the means to look after him and I will look after him," he said.