[skibumwa]

Sorry this is long post, I just need a friendly voice to help me here...

I went down to NZ for a few weeks in April 15 - May 6th. I came home with some great memories and 4 great job offers in writing. I accepted one offer with an accredited employer in Wellington doing software engineering work (Long Term Skills Shortage List). I was doing great until then had to refer my medicals on May 10th. The only glitch on my medicals was high cholesterol and high triglycerides. My readings on May 10th were 257 (cholesterol) and 244 (triglycerides):uhoh .

So since then I got to work and lowered both with lots more exercise, and really maxed out my already pretty good diet: I added Omega-3s, lots of salmon (yummy), ate flaxseeds, whole grain foods, oatmeal/porrage, veggies and all-natural cholesterol lowering medication (not prescribed). My new numbers of as of last week Wednesday was:

250 - cholesterol :nice1 (getting lower W/OUT doctor prescribed meds!)
144 - triglycerides :raebanana (normal levels NOW!)

I am in the NORMAL range for triglycerides now (below 150 wow!) and had dropped 7 points in my cholesterol which is harder to lower in just 4 weeks.Anyway, after 5 weeks of losing my mind waiting for results from the medical referral, I get comments back that they want me to re-test for Liver Function, full blood count and NOW even Hepatitis C. I tested NEGATIVE for HIV, HEP A & B and TB. I am upset that if Hep C was so that important, then why was an 'optional' test on the form 1007???? Anyway, I am now worried that my employer will not wait for me for the NZIS process to take it's long time. I so much want to live in Wellington and work for this company. So far they will wait it out, but I am concerned they (after 5 weeks of past my original start date) will get frustrated.

FYI- I am in great shape despite my BMI being 30-31%. I can climb mountains, sea kayak 10-15 miles a day and bike a long while too. I don't smoke, do drugs or drink. I mean does anyone know if immigrations NZ is only looking for perfect human/androids, or athlete scholars to come to live and work there? I am dismayed at this entire process.

Living and working in Wellington is my lifelong dream. I have planned and worked hard for this since last year. I am getting depressed now.

Aside from going $broke waiting for NZ Immigrations to realize I'd be a great add on to their society & benefit to their economy, I am seriously wondering if their expectations are FAR TOO high for immigrating persons who can offer the country very much. I am not a health risk to the US-medical system, and so why would I be a health risk to the NZ medical system?

Some friendly advice would be helpful as I am getting really depressed now... I feel like I am being persecuted for no reason by NZIS... :mad:

John
Seattle, Washington

[swissmissdesigner]

I have no advice, sorry.
I hope that things get better for you.

Anna

[kanatakiwi]

Hi John,
I know those medical tests can be a worry, but they will probably all be fine, and once that is sorted your application will likely move quite quickly. Also if you managed to get four job offers in writing, you obviously have good skills to offer and your current employer will probably wait it out to get a well qualified person. (as you say its a skill shortage area). And even if he doesnt it sounds like you can get other job offers quite easily.
so my advice would be enjoy that west coast summer weather and things will sort themselves out quite quickly.
This is a process that calls for patience and endurance, so you need to not let it get you riled up right from the start.
Kanatakiwi

[suebeenz]

Hi John,

Sorry to hear that you're waiting for who knows how long. But 'good-on-ya' for that diet to hopefully address the health concerns. As far as US medical system risk versus NZ medical system risk, the system are pretty different. I won't pretend to know about NZ's system (i'm still working it out), but in the US, if you have a known condition, you can have a heck of a time trying to get someone to insure you. Paying out of pocket, can be a nightmare. In NZ, it's the govt/tax payers problem, so they treat more carefully. Having said that, the US does the exact same thing to those wishing to obtain a greencard (although I don't think the medicals are as extensive).

The NZ immigration process is muuuch kinder an quicker than the US' system. In the US takes about 4-6 years to get a greencard, and as far as I know, you need to have your employer sponsor you. If you change jobs before you get the greencard, bad news you have to start over from square one (Not many people manage to stay with the same employer for more than 4 years at a time in the tech industry). I know the wait is dreadful, but hang in there!

About the employer potentially not waiting around for you, I can understand your being uncomfortable. Truth is, good companies should always be willing to pick up employees, so if they don't wait, maybe it's not a place worth working at. Do you have enough points without a job offer? If you got 4 job offers, I'm sure you'd have nooo problem in getting another one if necessary.

Btw, happen to have any WPF experience?

Hoping good news comes your way soon. Take care John!

[skibumwa]

PS. If I submitted my EOI now, I'd have total 215 points "as is". This is depressing indeed...

[CjChris]

Hi. Sorry you are being raked over the coals, so to speak, but really, as suggested previously, it'll probably be OK. Three out of four people on my application had to be retested and/or get specialist letter...we were worried and fretted about it senselessly....and we just got PR, so my thought on it is that for many of these tests, NZIS medical reviewers are just doing "their job" by second-checking lab work in case a superior comes behind them and questions why or why not they have done certain things.

So, keep doing what you are doing to stay healthy and allow them to do what they need to do....I had a hard time being patient during this process, but in the end I knew they had me. All we could do was wait and hope for the best.

And frankly, I've seen so many people on this forum talk about their NZ employer waiting weeks and even months for them to clear the immigration process (NZ employers knew it could be a slow and painful process, but they took that risk when they offered you a job).

Good luck; I hope they finish up with your tests so that you have some $$ to spend in NZ!

[Nathan]

Hi, John.

My medicals came back similar to yours. (I'm one of Christine's three problems!) I only had one retest, and that was for liver, blood count (which doesn't mean diddly!), and the lipid panel. All was well in the end. I suspect yours will be, too. They just need to do their screening. There's a list of disqualifying conditions on NZIS,,,, which I'll look for and post later. What you've listed isn't on it!

As for yhe employer waiting, it seems that the NZ employers... and almost everyone for that matter... are much more relaxed than we're used to. That's a good thing, IMHO...OK, not so humble.

PM me if you have questions or post them here and you'll get lot's of good responses from lots of good people.

Good luck!
Oh... and welcome to the forum.

Nathan