The Australian Government announced yesterday that Dr Bernhard Moeller and his family would be granted Australian Permanent Residency. Dr Moeller, who is working as a doctor in rural Victoria, had applied for Permanent Residency and been rejected on the basis his son has Downs Syndrome.

The Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, intervened in the case once the original decision had been upheld by the Migration Review Tribunal. Minister Evans' statement can be found at http://www.alp.org.au/media/1108/msimmc260.php

The road to Permanent Residency can be littered with obstacles and seem endless for many International Medical Graduates. In an interview on the ABC, Minister Evans indicated the Government's intention to reduce some of those obstacles by giving delgates more discretion on how to apply the rulings to certain classes of skilled migration visa holders, of which IMGs are one. The full transcipt of the interview can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2430636.htm