Moeller family allowed to stay in Australia

From The New York Times:

SYDNEY, Australia — A German doctor whose family was twice denied permanent residency in Australia because of his son’s Down syndrome has been allowed to stay after the immigration minister intervened on his behalf.

Dr. Bernhard Moeller moved to Australia with his wife and three children nearly three years ago when he was hired to work as a specialist at a rural hospital in the southern state of Victoria.The family decided to apply for permanent residency, but were appalled when their application was rejected this month because Dr. Moeller’s 13-year-old son, Lukas, has Down syndrome. (Father and son are pictured.)

Australia has a longstanding policy of weighing medical conditions in its residency decisions. Any applicant deemed to have a condition that would incur significant costs to the state-run health care system must be rejected under Australia’s immigration laws.

The Moellers appealed the ruling to the Migration Review Tribunal, the immigration department’s appellate court, but it upheld the decision. As a final resort, the family took the case to the federal immigration minister, Sen. Chris Evans.

The immigration minister has the power to overturn decisions by department if he deems there are special circumstances.

"I received a request this morning from Dr. Moeller to intervene and I have granted permanent visas," Evans told Parliament on Wednesday, according to the national broadcaster. "As minister, I can take into account all the circumstances and it was clear to me Dr. Moeller was making a very valuable contribution to their local community."

Dr. Moeller told local media the decision was "a great relief," and called on Australia to make its immigration rules more flexible.

The Moellers’ case sparked outrage in Australia, where doctors serving rural areas are in short supply. The case also attracted attention from international disability rights groups, who called the decision discriminatory.