The St Kilda Baptist community is celebrating after local man Byung Woo Song was given a lifeline to stay in Australia.
Mr Song, known as Sam, has spent much of his adult life in Australia, arriving from Korea as a 28-year-old on a student visa in 1992. 
But for most of that time, his situation has been precarious. The biblical college he was to study at went bankrupt, and he lost the $15,000 his family had scraped together to pay for his religious and language classes.
In 1998 he applied for what was then a "resolution of status" visa, and he has since been forbidden to work or study, instead relying on the goodwill of the local community for food, support and lodging.
His parents have died and he has only sporadic contact with his remaining community in Korea.
Several appeals for visa extensions failed, and in   November Fairfax reported that Mr Song had been given notice he would be deported within weeks.
The only hope was for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to exercise his powers to intervene in exceptional cases, a clause the St Kilda Baptist Church argued applied in Mr Song's case.
The Reverend Stacey Aslangul said: "He is deeply loved and appreciated. He has spent his years here playing local soccer and coaching kids sport, manning soup kitchens, running marathons for charity and doing odd jobs at church. In return, his many friends fed him and gave him lodgings."
Mr Song's story provoked a huge reaction and, on Thursday, he was told Mr Dutton had approved his bid for permanent residency.
Mr Song was unable to speak to Fairfax Media, but Ms Aslangul praised Mr Dutton for his decision.
"I think everyone was quite shocked late last year when we first heard the news about Sam's imminent removal ... It was just shining a light on what we think was an injustice."
Refugee advocates have lobbied Mr Dutton for months to use his discretionary powers to allow 267 asylum seekers brought to Australia for medical treatment to stay.