Australian-raised Ricardo Bolvaran, deported to Chile last year, should soon be on his way home following after confirmation the Brisbane man's appeal against the revocation of his visa was successful.
Mr Bolvaran, who had spent 41 of his 42 years in Australia, received a letter from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on Monday (Chilean time) informing him of its decision.
"You were invited to ask for revocation of the original decision and you made representations to the decision-maker about why the original decision should be revoked," a DIBP case officer says in the letter. 
"After consideration of your response, the decision-maker has decided to revoke the original decision to cancel your visa.
"S501CA(5) of the Migration Act provides that if the decision to cancel your visa is revoked the original decision is taken not to have been made."
A jubilant Mr Bolvaran said he had trouble believing his nightmare looked to be almost over.
"I've just been pinching myself," he told Fairfax Media from his accommodation in Santiago.
"I probably won't really believe it until I'm home, I just can't get a grasp of it being real.
"I'm just trying not to get too excited, but I'm really looking forward to a nice steak, some meat that doesn't make me sick.
"Until I'm there and past Immigration, Customs and Border Security, I won't believe it."
Mr Bolvaran, a recovering ice addict, was deported to the country of his birth late last year following his imprisonment in Brisbane's Wacol prison for drugs-related offences.
Because he had arrived as a one-year-old, Australia was the only home Mr Bolvaran had ever known.
When he was deported to Santiago, Mr Bolvaran could barely speak Spanish and was left to fend for himself in the country he and his family fled at the height of the Pinochet regime.
The arrival of his partner, Rachel Delucia, and their two youngest sons had made life in Chile more bearable, but they were set to return home on   March 28 when their Chilean visas expire.
Before he returned to Australia, Mr Bolvaran needed to obtain a new resident return visa from the Australian Embassy in Santiago.
So far, that was not as simple as it sounded.
"I can't get a hold of the Australian Embassy here in Chile because they won't see me because I'm not an Australian citizen," Mr Bolvaran said.
"The building's security won't let me into the building without an Australian passport."
Mr Bolvaran said he was hopeful that situation could be resolved quickly so he could get on his way back home to Brisbane.
"We're not going to be 100 per cent happy until we're back there," he said.
"Everyone back home, my parents, my son, my sister, are really happy.
"My life's been a merry-go-round and I'm still wondering if this can be true, so I won't get too carried away until I'm back on Aussie soil.
"When that happens, I'll be kissing the ground."
Mr Bolvaran said his eldest son had already organised some work for him for when he returned.
Ms Delucia, who has been in Chile with Mr Bolvaran since the start of the year, said the decision was a relief for the whole family.
"We just have to sort out all the paperwork and hopefully Rick will be home not long after me," she said.
"Our new journey starts today."
Mr Bolvaran, who said he has not touched drugs for several years, realised he would have to be on his best behaviour when he returns to Brisbane.
"Please note: this decision does not mean that your case cannot be reconsidered again on character grounds in the event of further criminal offending by you," he was warned in the letter from the DIBP case officer.
Comment was sought from Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.
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