Jeong-ho is a citizen of South Korea. He first arrived in Australia at the age of 18 to study at university, on a Student Class TU (subclass 500) visa, having lived with his mother in South Korea up until then. Jeong-ho enjoyed his studies and completed a Bachelor of Nursing degree at Victoria University 11 months ago. He was top of his class. Soon after Jeong-ho came to Australia, Jeong-ho's mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and during this period she revealed to Jeong-ho who his father was. She died soon after. Jeong-ho has no other siblings. Jeong-ho met his biological father, Soe-Jun when he was in Australia. Soe-Jun is a 45-year-old Australian permanent resident, who has been living in Australia for eight years. Soe-Jun was granted his permanent residency before Jeong-ho arrived in Australia. Jeong-ho and Soe-Jun became very close. Jeong-ho was loving life and was making up for lost time with his father. He eventually ended up moving in with his father. Soe-Jun was also over the moon that he had his son back in his life. 

He made sure to pay for all of Jeong-ho's needs to make sure he was comfortable and stress free. In his stress free mindset however, Jeong-ho completely forgot about his visa, which was due to expire in two weeks and his opportunity to apply for a Temporary Graduate Class VC (subclass 485) visa has lapsed. Soe-Jun asked some of his friends and was advised to lodge a Child Class BT (subclass 802) visa for Jeong-ho. Jeong-ho is currently in Australia on a Bridging A (subclass 010) visa on the basis of an application for a Child Class BT (subclass 802) visa lodged one and half weeks ago. Soon after lodging his application, Soe-Jun was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. In the last two months, Soe-Jun's condition has begun to slowly deteriorate. Jeong-ho has been looking after him. Soe-Jun has no other relatives living in Australia who can care for him. Jeong-ho found full time employment to help with the medical costs. His employer has been very accommodating of his needs and allows him to work full time but is flexible which hours he works so that he can also care for his father.

Jeong-ho is now 23 years and three months old. Jeong-ho is not eligible for Australian citizenship and does not meet the requirements for a skilled visa. Unfortunately, Jeong-ho received a letter from the Department of Home Affairs last week to advise him that his application for a Child Class BT (subclass 802) visa had been refused because he is working full-time. Jeong-ho comes to see you, a registered migration agent, for advice as to what he should do next. He is concerned about what his options are now that he is working full-time. He informs you that he will continue working full-time for as long as possible because they need the money, but he understands that at some point he will need to take extended leave from work to care for his father on a full-time basis. He informs you that it is not practically possible for him to leave Australia, because his father would not be able to survive without him. 

However, the doctors are hopeful that this may not be necessary for a couple of years yet, although Soe-Jun will, for the rest of his life, need assistance with the practical aspects of daily life. Jeong-ho explains to you that Soe-Jun is desperate not to end up in a nursing home because he does not want to lose his dignity, they cannot afford the costs and it would be difficult to find an affordable nursing home that could provide the specialist medical care that he will require as his condition progresses. Soe-Jun refuses to access any government services.

 QUESTIONS 

1. What is the basis of the refusal decision and the immigration consequences of the decision on Jeong-ho? 

2. What options (if any) are available to Jeong-ho in relation to the refusal? 

3. What are the prospects of success of any options examined in question 2 above, including a summary of any letter that will be written? 

4. Provide an explanation of the next steps that you would take to assist Jeong-ho and what documents you would require from him that would need to be lodged, including an explanation of any associated time limits.