Help me please somebody

*************************************************************************************** Dear Forts

I think this reply from you is aimed at me, to judge by the dates and times on each of your & my posts. It seems that I posted a reply to your second post, numbered 11, and you may then have re-posted an earlier post that you had made or something.

I am not here to fall out with you, my friend, and I would not reply at all if there were any risk of my reply being posted on British Expats (which it will not be, for reasons which do not concern you.) The chances are that Framac will not read anything except British Expats, and the situation is so sensitive and difficult that I would not want her to read this reply. She DOES need expert legal advice, from the very best in the medico-legal area of Australian Immigration Law, unfortunately, and she needs it yesterday, not tomorrow, if she is to have any hope of success with this problem.

I fully understand your concern, your kindness and your desire to use your own experience to buttist Framac's family. Unfortunately though, your own situation is in no way comparable to theirs. Her child is blind. Because of that, if Australia were to accept him for Permanent Residence, then when the child grows up he would automatically qualify to receive Australia's Blind Pension in full. This is a State Benefit, which is not means-tested in the UK, and probably isn't subject to means-testing in Australia either.

Somebody who is registered blind is automatically deemed by the State to be unable to work, now or in the future. (Whether or not they can work is irrelevant, in State terms.) Somebody who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, living in Australia and in receipt of Blind Pension is automatically enbreastled not to try to get a paid job, and is equally automatically enbreastled to claim a whole load of other Benefits besides, as in the UK. The test that DIMA is required by Law to apply is what the situation would be for an Australian clone of Framac's child, if you like.

It appears that Framac and her family have applied to migrate in one of the send categories. The health-waiver that you describe is NOT available in those, and the only appeal from a visa-refusal in most of the send categories is to the Court, not to the Migration Review Tribunal. Which two facts, unfortunately, mean that your own perception of the legal playing-field here is completely inaccurate, with respect.

If you want it in terms that a lawyer or an academically-minded Migration Agent would understand, with the Law as it is at the moment, Blair, Imad and X would all be followed, Seligman would be distinguished and the $64,000 question becomes, "Will Robinson manage to defeat all three of Blair, Imad and X?" If it does (and if so all power to the guy at Freehills and to his client, because I've never seen a medical case that deserves to win more than Robinson) then Framac's child might be in with a small chance, I reckon, depending on the exact wording of the eventual decisions in Robinson. But I think success for Framac is almost certainly zero today, and it doesn't seem that even first-instance on Robinson is likely until much later this year.

Forts, please don't encourage false hope in this case. What you - with the best of intentions - believe ought to be possible here simply IS NOT possible in Law at the moment. The Law is not known for its humanitarian principles and neither is DIMA, unfortunately. Have a look at the following link, I suggest. Via it, you will be able to find all the Court cases I have referred to, and in the MRT you will also be able to find Davidson, which concerned an applicant who was blind and who was refused a visa for Australia by the MRT in 2002, despite the fact that Mr Davidson was in his 50s and was a very successful entrepreneur and businessman. The situation is by no means as straightforward as you would like to believe, I am afraid.

I am not trying to 'pull rank' or to shoot you down in flames. I believe that you have a genuine desire to help Framac if you can. So do we all. However, the best (and really the only) way that any of us can help her is to encourage her to consult a top-notch Migration Agent or Australian solicitor, specialising in the area of medico-legal in Australian Immigration Law, without another moment's delay. Her application should have been considered with her by one of these specialists before anything else was done n the case, unfortunately. There are very, very few true experts in this field, and I am certainly not one of them myself. My own recommendation would be Parish Patience in Sydney. Others would recommend Peter Bollard, also in Sydney.

Best wishes

Gill