Indian-born Deepak Manuel is in the process of packing up his young family to leave Australia, after his second bid for residency was rejected due to his son’s medical condition.

Savio, 5, was born with microcephaly – which means the brain does not develop properly resulting in a smaller than normal head.

Mr Manuel, 32, included a statutory declaration in his most recent application, stating that he – not the Australian healthcare system – would bear the cost of any future treatment required.

The father-of-two said he was devastated by the decision, though he had been buoyed by the backing of hospital management and his colleagues in the operating theatres.

‘’After the first rejection I decided to reapply under the Employer Nomination Scheme as the hospital agreed to sponsor me,’’ Mr Manuel said. ‘’There was an option to apply for a health waiver for Savio who has mild to moderate developmental delays. He doesn’t require any medical treatment, though I have pledged to pay if he ever does.’’

Mr Manuel and wife Ancy moved from their native India to New Zealand in 2009. They gained permanent residency there before moving to Australia in October 2012.

‘’Australia is a beautiful country and we wanted to buy a house and settle here – we didn’t realise that if one member of a family fails the health requirement, we all fail,’’ he said.

‘’My colleagues at Wollongong hospital have been so supportive, and management has been a pillar of strength for me. We leave for New Zealand next week - but would come back in a second if anything changed.’’

In a letter to Ms Bird, head of orthopaedic surgery Dr Greg Stackpool said he wanted to see the ‘’unjust decision overturned’’.

‘’There have been numerous occasions where Mr Manuel’s expertise and intuition as a theatre nurse in orthopaedic surgery have been invaluable to the service,’’ he wrote.

Meantime unit manager Patricia Bate-Charlton noted his ‘’unwavering commitment to his profession and his patients as well as his peers and colleagues’’.

Cunningham MP Sharon Bird said she was doing all she could to help support Mr Manuel and his family. ‘’We are giving him all the assistance we can in the form of advice and representation.’’

A Department of Immigration spokesperson said most visas for Australia required applicants to meet the migration health requirement set out in migration law.

 ‘’The health requirement is an objective assessment to determine whether the care of the individual in Australia would likely result in significant costs to the Australian community or prejudice the access of Australian citizens and permanent residents to services in short supply,’’ the spokesperson said.

Mr Manuel has been in Australia on a 457 visa – and has the option to reapply for that class of visa – but said he chose not to because his family’s future would ‘’remain uncertain’’.

A department spokeswoman said Mr Manuel had also had the option of having his unsuccessful application reviewed, but had not done so.

However Mr Manuel said the rejection notice came through in February while he was on holiday in India leaving him little time to meet the 21-day deadline in which to appeal.

‘’We only got to read it 17 days later, which left us just four days to react when it had taken quite some time to get the original application together,’’ he said. 

‘’It’s also an expensive process – the first application in May 2013 cost me $4000; while the second application in May 2015 cost $8000.’’

Mr Manuel said he was sad to be leaving his work and his friends, and to have to pull Savio out of school when he’d been doing so well.

‘’Savio started Kindergarten this year at Fairy Meadow Demonstration School and we are so happy with his progress,’’ he said. ‘’To have to move him now is devastating.’’