Haneef wins fight for visa

Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef has won his court battle to have his Australian work visa reinstated but the new Rudd Government may appeal it to the High Court.

The full bench of the Federal Court, sitting in Melbourne, today dismissed an appeal lodged by federal government lawyers against a judge's decision to reinstate Dr Haneef's visa.

The Federal Court decision, handed down by Chief Justice Michael Black in Melbourne, was another slap in the face for former immigration minister Kevin Andrews, who had cancelled the former Gold Coast doctor's visa on character grounds.

Dr Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo said his client had reservations about coming back to work as a doctor in Queensland.

His main aim was to clear his name, said Mr Russo.

"Firstly, to enable him to make that decision as to whether or not he will come back and secondly, for him to clear his name and get on with his life," he told ABC radio before today's decision was handed down.

"As time goes by I don't know whether that wish is as strong as it was when we started."

update ...

The secret information relied on by former immigration minister Kevin Andrews to cancel Mohamed Haneef's visa has been discarded by his Labor successor, Chris Evans, who found there was no basis to deny the Indian doctor entry to Australia.

Senator Evans said Dr Haneef was free to reclaim his work visa, adding cryptically that he had based his decision on the "latest federal police information".