According to Adelaide news portal The Advertiser, Lee, 34, was granted PR status by Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke this week.
Lee initially went to Australia in 2007 to study music at the University of Adelaide. He told Australian media that he wanted to stay on there as he did not have family support in Malaysia.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Lee’s direct appeal to the immigration minister for a residency visa, after other avenues had been exhausted, had failed.
However, he won a respite earlier this month when his application for a three-month bridging visa extension was granted.
Lee is a member of four-piece band, The Craic, and also sings in a church choir. He is currently working with the Australian Disability Sport organisation.
He said he was “over the moon” at the decision to award him PR status and thanked some 14,000 Australians who signed a petition asking he be allowed to stay in the country.
“By reading the form, the assistant minister (Alex Hawke) has used his public interest power to grant permanent residency,” he was quoted as saying.