Darko 'Dougie' Desic is back in his beloved northern beaches

For the last 17 months the former Yugoslavia-born man has been fighting to stay in Australia, after he was jailed, escaped, sent back to jail and then, finally, to immigration detention.

It is usual practice for convicted felons to be sent back to their birth country after completing their sentence, but on Monday authorities granted him a permanent Australian visa.

"He's just so grateful for everyone's support," his lawyer Paul McGirr said.

Dougie, as he's known to his friends in Sydney's northern beaches, made global headlines when he sensationally handed himself into police in September 2021. It was 30 years since he escaped jail, but the COVID-19 pandemic had left him without a home or income.

He was sent back to jail to serve out the rest of his sentence, plus an extra two months for escaping.

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In the early 1990s Dougie was jailed for cannabis cultivation, but used bolt cutters to break out of Grafton jail. He feared being deported back to former Yugoslavia and conscripted into the national army, then in the midst of a brutal civil war.

He fled to Avalon and for three decades he lived in fear he would be caught.

Dougie avoided anything that required identification or interaction with authorities - driving, signing a rental lease, seeing a doctor. He even pulled out his own rotten teeth using pliers to avoid going to the dentist.

On Monday, authorities at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre handed Dougie a Medicare card (his first one ever) and offered him a lift back to Avalon.

Dougie's release came as a surprise to Mr McGirr who thought it was a "gee up" when he received the call.

"I wasn't expecting things to move this quickly," he said. "I don't know what actions have been taken in the department, but it's obvious to me common sense has prevailed."

The tight-knit Avalon community rallied in support of Dougie after he was put back in jail, including raising more than $34,000 through a GoFundMe page and securing the legal support of Mr McGirr.

The former fugitive has been a free man for less than 24 hours, and Mr McGirr told ACM Dougie is still in shock.

"He's so grateful to everyone. From day dot he never expected anyone to care about him," he said.

Dougie's lost weight and has "aged" since going back into jail, but is keen to get healthy again and back to life.

"He has accommodation and a job and wants to start working - he's a qualified engineer and stone mason," Mr McGirr said.

"He's just got to keep his head down and get on with it."