This report is based on an SBS post published today.

An Indian citizen has committed suicide on 17^th July 2016 in Sunshine, Melbourne after he became ineligible to apply for Australian permanent residency due to changes in Australian Skilled Occupation List .

Like many other Indians, Deepak Singh arrived in Australia in 2008 with the sole purpose of gaining a permanent residency here. To pursue his dream, he has undertaken studies in Community Welfare, which upon completion was eligible to apply for PR.

But changes in the Skilled occupation list over the years has made him ineligible to apply for Permanent residency. He also did an internship at the Tarneit Gurudwara, helping the homeless.

After completing his studies Mr Singh married an older Australian woman and was living on a temporary visa here. He applied for permanent residency on the basis of his marriage to an Australian Citizen but the Department of Immigration denied him PR being suspicious of the age gap between the couples.

Deepak Singh was under enormous mental pressure because of this precarious situation. He committed suicide on last Sunday , which came as a shock to many of his close friends, though they were aware of his dilemma.

This is a real sad incident but unfortunately there are many more Indians going through similar situation in Australia especially from the region of Punjab. A desire to gain Australian residency coupled with the help of greedy immigration agents both in India and Australia, turn people to look for illegal means to achieve their dream.

Immigration agents and Education consultants working solely with the purpose of earning huge income in a short time, never present an accurate picture of the ground realities here. Though there are many success stories to boast about, usually such unfortunate endings  go under the carpet.

If you or someone you know needs help, call: Lifeline on 13 11 14

After trying everything finally Deepak Singh gave up on life and committed suicide on Sunday (July 17) morning. A hope for his aged parents, his working rights were withdrawn by Immigration. Despite pleading many times the system failed once again to address welfare needs of international students. The gap between promises made to students and reality were so huge that Deepak became hopeless. Even in is death he wanted to leave some help for his parents and before suicide he asked his severely sick wife to keep his death a secret. He was worried that his sick parents will not be able bear the loss of their son.