[daisy22]

My family are looking into the possibility of living/working in NZ, my partner is the one with the skills (City & Guiilds) and is in good health.

However, I have type 1 diabetes, have been on insulin injections for nearly 40years, but apart from that I am in good health.

Is this going to be a problem?

How should we fill out the EOI form? for example, I am in good health, but have a long term condition that I, and many other diabetics don't consider to be an illness.

Any help needed please, as this is all early stages yet and we need to know whether it's likely to be a "no no" before we even start.

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi,
I have been an insulin dependent diabetic for 37 years now and although I have not been fully accepted yet ,it is looking good. We filled in all my Diabetic details on the EOI and they invited us to apply. Because of the Diabetes they require more blood tests than a normal applicant and because the Diabetic is not the main applicant your chances are good. They are more concerned of any complications caused by Diabetes such as kidney failure etc. My Diabetes is very well controlled and they were sent a letter from my Diabetic consultant showing the last 5 years of clinic results all of which were good.Even if they turn you down when they have had the medicals sent to them you can apply for a medical waiver. As far as I am aware my medical was ok as they have queried other things on our application but not my medicals. I hope to be hearing very shortly and will let you know by PM what they say. If I was you I would put in the application but you must mention the Diabetes because they will find out about it when you submit your medicals.
I wish you success. And by the way, welcome to the forum

Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline

[Kim39]

You'll be fine. There are plenty of Diabetics type 1 and 2 on this forum who are here on various types of visa's. Wife is type 2 and has been accepted for WTR. As much as her meds had to go before a med board it was only the system that they had to follow. You'll be good so don't stress yourself over it as stress can ultimately throw your levels skew wif(sp).

Kim

[daisy22]

Thank you to both of your replies, it's a little bit more assuring. Of course I will mention about my diabetes, you have to don't you, it's not something you can disguise.

My other problem is that we currently live in France and have only recently been seeing a diabetic specialist, consequently my BS have been a bit up and down, so I'm not sure about how I would go with the report from the dr.

Good luck to Caroline & Dave, hope things move forward quickly for you. I only wish we were at the stage you are now at.:wah

[Gilly1973]

Reading the outcome of this thread with interest. I am applying for residence and submitted my ITA a couple of weeks ago. Standard response from them saying issues with the medicals which is due to my wife being a type 1 diabetic which is well controlled and blood tests and rest of medical is fine.

Any ideas how long the medical process takes as I have a job offer with the police and timescales are very tight. Case worker unable to give any answers.

Cheers

[Kim39]

Just as a rough idea, I submitted my application on 20th November 06 and found out that they had only submitted my medicals to med board in Jan, got results in Feb, very slow process..........

Elaine (Kim 39 oh)

[Gilly1973]

Elaine,

I am obviously quite lucky then. I have only just submitted my ITA and they have already submitted medicals to med board. They have said it will take 3-4 weeks for response. Our application is for residency (skilled migrant), just hope it is not a problem for the residency or will have to look at the WTR, is the procedure much different? Did you have to provide any further information and where you already looking at the WTR visa? Sorry for all the questions but you are the first person I have managed to find who has gone through the system.

[Kim39]

HI
We are going down the WTR route, didn't have to provide any other details, I do know that my blood sugars were up, but my liver and kidney functions were normal, we had our medicals done by our gp and he put on my form that there where no complications.
Remember though that you have to pay for ALL your diabetic medication over here, so try and bring a stash with you.

Elaine (Kim 39 oh)

[Gilly1973]

Do you have any idea how much the medication costs? I am hoping to take out medical insurance that covers pre standing conditions. Thanks for all the help. Don't why it is such an issue, especially as if you pay for your own medication. It is certainly well below the 25k threshold that they mention in the manual.

[Kim39]

Not sure how much insulin is, but I pay $15 for approx 6 months worth of tablets, as they are subsidised, as the insulin will be, so would imagine that it will be the same price, but I will try and find out for you, is it humane or synthetic insulin?

Elaine

[Gilly1973]

This is the medication she has in the UK.

Lantus Insulin Optiset 3ML 100IU/ML (insulin glargine) the are for an injection pen.

Novorapid Penfill Insulin 3ML for use with Novo Nordisk insulin devices.

Many thanks for the offer of finding out how much it might cost. I just hope it doesn't stop us getting the residency.

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi. This will explain costings in NZ for Diabetics. Hope this helps.I am fortunate that they do my insulin there but will have to change my blood meter. http://www.diabetes.org.nz/info/visitors.html
Just seen your post above and it is the exact insulin I am on and it is regularly available in NZ and the cost is $ 15 for 3 months supply for each item plus gp charge of between $45 to $55. Not sure if you have to see gp for each repeat prescription though,someone else will probably know


Hope this helps

Dave and Caroline

[Gilly1973]

Caroline & Dave, Just wondering how you are getting on in relation to your application. As previously mentioned I am applying for residency as the main applicant and my wife is the one with the diabetes. Our ITA is currently with immigration and the medicals were sent off to the medical officer due to the diabetes. Her H1Cs were fine as well as the other extra test they did as a result of the fasting bloods ( I do not know exactly what they test for). Dr doing the immigration medicals appeared happy enough. If they have got back to you with the result of the medical officer, how long did it take and did they see it as a bar to you gaining your visas. Sorry for all the questions, but I have such a roller coaster ride getting this far and don't want to fall at the final hurdle. Many thanks.

[Caroline and Dave]

Although we are still awaiting approval I am pretty sure they have passed me on the medicals because they have asked other questions re our application which we have dealt with,but they have not mentioned a thing about the medicals.Usually if there is a problem re the meds they will be asking for further doctors letters etc.We sent them a letter from our Diabetic consultant together with my last 5 years track record which was very good. My Hb1c over the last 5 years average was 7.9. I think where your wife is concerned there should not be a problem. They are only concerned where there is evidence that she may need dialysis and any other serious complication that Diabetes can bring on. As soon as we get the decision I will pm you.I would say your wifes condition is not going to be much of a concern for them
If you go here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/nzis/operations_manual/index.htm
Go down the list on the left till you get to index. In there go to M and find medical conditions. Here it lists all conditions that will cause a problem. you will note diabetes is not one of them

Hope this helps. Feel free to pm me if you would like to know any more diabetic info and I will try to help.

Kindest regards

Dave

[Gilly1973]

Many thanks, If I need any further information I will get in touch. I will let you know how we get on. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply.

Cheers

[Kim39]

Just to let you know that you don't need to see your GP for a repeat prescription, you can phone up and order it over the phone, you just have to give 48 hrs notice, and it costs $10 for the repeat prescription, plus script charges.

Elaine (Kim 39 oh)

[Caroline and Dave]

Just to update this thread. We received PR today and my Diabetes was approved without the need of a medical waiver. It might have been a different story had I been the main applicant. So all of you who are applying and are Diabetic,Don't despair,there's light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you are the main applicant,you have every chance.:nice1

Kindest regards

Dave

[Gilly1973]

Good news for you, I have just been asked to provide some more information and a futher consultant report outlining the prognosis of future problems. Your post has given me some hope, although I have missed the job offer I was due to start in April. I am hoping I can get the visas approved and offered a later start date. Once again congratulation and thanks for letting me know the outcome.
Cheers

[Anita & Marco]

Hello,

I am using the same insuline and I pay every 3 months 14 NZ dollar to a GP to get a receipt and 20 NZ dollar to a pharmacy to get the insuline.
Both insulines are subsidised. To get approval I first had to go to a hospital to see a insuline specialist who made a letter for the health board.
L
Cheers,