Join us for a three part series reviewing specialist areas of immigration law.
The purpose of this series is:
a. to help people identify when Specialist Advocacy is required in their immigration process; and
b. the expectations from a Practitioner (Licensed Adviser/Registered Migration Agent) and a Government department.
These immigration matters should not be taken lightly as a negative outcome will jeopardise your move to another country.
In both Australia and New Zealand, applicants applying for visas must meet the health criteria where:
- The applicant will not pose a danger to the community/public,
- The applicant entering the country will not impose significant costs to the health system and/or educational system, and
- The applicant is able to perform the functions for which the visa was issued.
The most common conditions [but not limited to] deemed to impose significant healthcare and community service costs are:
- intellectual impairment
- functional impairment
- HIV infection
- Hepatitis B & C
- Organ transplants
- renal disease or failure
- cardiac diseases
- cancer
- respiratory disease
- autoimmune disease
- tuberculosis
It is irrelevant if an applicant can support themselves with private healthcare insurance. Each of the above conditions are assessed over a five year period where the costs do not exceed NZ$41,000 [New Zealand] and AU$49,000+ [Australia].
How are Health Waivers applied?
Health waivers are exercised when an applicant meets all the [other] criteria of the visa for which they are applying for, and your Case/Visa officer contacts you to advise you have not met the health requirements but a waiver might be considered.
The Case/Visa officer will ask you to:
- give the Government department more information ABOUT why a health waiver should be exercised; and
- complete a formal submission telling the Government department WHY they should exercise a health waiver.
Both Australian and New Zealand review the merits of each case based on compelling [and any compassionate] circumstances that support exercising a health waiver.
These matters are complex and navigating through immigration regulations can become confusing to the lay-person. They involve extensive research of similar conditions and relevant outcomes. Judicial rulings may also be required if your application is negatively decided.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, it is best to seek lawful immigration advice from a practitioner (Licensed Adviser/Registered Migration Agent) who are competent in handling such matters.
Feel free to contact us at Admin@a2nz-immigration.com or call us for a confidential chat.