Mum granted visa so she can fly to Melbourne to see son on life support
A Chinese mother has been granted a visa to come to Australia, despite the coronavirus travel ban, so she can see her only son who is on life support in a Melbourne hospital.
Xiao Li, 22, who has been in the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition since his car collided with a truck on January 27, was declared brain dead on Monday.
Xiao Li came to Australia last May on a working-holiday visa.
On Friday afternoon, acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge announced that the government had granted its first exception to the blanket ban on foreign nationals coming from China due to the ‘‘overwhelming compassionate and other considerations which need to be taken into account’’.
‘‘I can announce today that Xiao Li’s mother has been granted that tourist visa, so she will be coming to Australia,’’ Mr Tudge said.
‘‘Typically we ask people to quarantine themselves for 14 days after arriving in Australia. In this instance we’re going to work very closely with her to ensure that she can nevertheless see her son and properly take care of the funeral arrangements and other issues which she needs to deal with.’’
Mr Tudge said government officials were liaising with Mr Li’s mother, Xing Lang Ren, to bring her to Australia as soon as possible. It is unclear whether she will be on a chartered flight or join a regular flight from her home in Qingdao, on China’s eastern seaboard.
‘‘So I’m pleased with that result, I think it’s a compassionate outcome for her,’’ said Mr Tudge.
"She will no doubt be very seriously grieving and certainly our thoughts are with her."
Ms Ren applied for an Australian visa on January 29, paying a total of $1145 to fast-track her application with a normal response time of two business days.
Less than 72 hours later, on February 1, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the minimum 14-day ban on foreign nationals travelling from mainland China.
Mr Li, 22, was declared brain dead on Monday.
Ms Ren, a labourer from Qingdao, in Shandong province, borrowed the money for the visa application from a relative.
Qingdao, on China's eastern seaboard, is about 1000 kilometres from the disease's epicentre in Wuhan. Shandong province has recorded 379 cases of coronavirus, with no fatalities so far.
On Friday morning, Mr Tudge said the Australian Border Force Commissioner, Michael Outram, had permission from the national security committee to make exemptions to the travel ban but Australian authorities will "have to be assured that there will be no health risks to other Australians from her coming here".
"She’s not in the infected province, so that’s the first step, but nevertheless they will still have to be assured that nobody else will be put at risk," he said.
Angus Yuan, a friend of Xiao Li who has been visiting him at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said Ms Ren on Thursday granted permission for her son's organs to be donated.
Mr Li's friends say he did not have insurance, complicating the possible return of his body to China.