Pakistani international student Hassan Asif has one final wish before he dies, to hold his mother’s hand, but an Immigration Department ruling now means that will most likely not happen.
"I want to be with my family, my mother and my brother, this means a lot to me,” he told SBS World News.
The 24-year-old has advanced metastatic melanoma, with months, if not weeks to live, but his family have been denied visas to come to Australia - and Hassan is too sick to travel home.
The Department of Immigration has offered its sympathy to the Asif family, but said it must be satisfied that visa applicants will not overstay or refuse to return to their country of origin and said the family is a risk.
Sherri Bruinhout, director of homelessness and justice at the Melbourne City Mission, said the decision was extremely unjust.
"They're not looking to come to Australia to live they're looking to come to Australia to hold their sons hand as he passes away." She said.
Hassan was an international student studying architecture when he received his diagnosis last April.
"I wanted to create a difference I wanted to make a name in the world for myself," said Hassan.
By July his doctors at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre could do no more - except to write to the Immigration Department on his behalf.
"We support this application on compassionate grounds and out of care for Hassan, who needs physical and emotional support at this time," said Medical oncology registrar Dr Kortnye Morris.
A new round of applications may take longer than Hassan has left.
The final hope is for intervention from the Immigration Minister, but migration agent Bina Shah said it doesn't look good.
"Usually the law says the minister will consider or intervene the application in the case of an Australian citizen or a permanent resident and in this case Hassan is neither."
Hassan remains optimistic. Ticking items off what he calls his bucket list in the little time he has left.
"I'm going to a cricket match so that's very exciting for me."
But the last item on the list, to see his mother once more, is now out of his hands.
