[rpearce]

Seriously looking at emigrating to NZ but my four year old son has just been diagnosed with a (minor) heart defect. Small hole in right ventricle. Consultant says it may heal naturally within two years but possibility it may not. He is, otherwise, extremely fit, boisterous and full of vim and vigour. My concern is that this might count against our application. Can anyone advise / allay my fears?

[Caroline and Dave]

First off welcome to the forum. I am sorry to hear about your Son and hopefully things will clear up naturally. I personaly think you have a good chance of being accepted although you may have to apply for a medical waiver. This is an excerpt from the NZIS manual

A4.60 Medical waivers (applicants for residence)
See A4 (before 28/11/2005)

Applicants for residence in New Zealand who are assessed as not having an acceptable standard of health and whose applications meet all other requirements for approval under the relevant Government residence policy may be considered for the grant of a medical waiver unless:
they require dialysis treatment, or an Immigration New Zealand medical assessor has indicated that they will require such treatment within a period of four years from the date of the medical assessment; or
they have active pulmonary tuberculosis; or
they have severe haemophilia; or
they have a physical incapacity that requires full time care.
Medical waivers will also not be granted to people:
who are applying for residence under Family category policy; and
who were eligible to be included in an earlier application for residence as the spouse or partner of a principal applicant or the dependent child of a principal applicant or their spouse or partner; and
were not declared on that earlier application.
People who:
were eligible to be included in an earlier successful application for residence as the spouse or partner of a principal applicant or the dependent child of a principal applicant or their spouse or partner; and
who were declared in that application but were not included in that application as non-principal applicants; and
whose application for residence under Family category policy is sponsored by a person included in the application for residence referred to in (i) above
will be assessed for the grant of a medical waiver as if they had been included in the earlier application and as if the sponsor was not resident in New Zealand.

Applicants (and dependants included in their application) who have been recognised as refugees may be granted medical waivers.
Effective 28/11/2005
The following are conditions that are not accepted for medical waiver with the exceptions

Medical conditions
HIV infection
Hepatitis B surface antigen positive, with abnormal liver function
Hepatitis C, RNA positive, with abnormal liver function
Malignancies of solid organs and haematopoietic tissue, including past history of, or currently under treatment
Exceptions are:

treated minor skin malignancies (not melanoma)
malignancies where the interval since treatment is such that the probability of cure is > 90%, e.g.: early stage (I & IIA) breast cancer at 5 years; low risk prostate cancer at 5 years; early stage (Dukes A & B1) colorectal cancer at 5 years; childhood leukaemia at 5 years
Solid organ transplants, excluding corneal grafts more than 6 months old
Chronic renal failure or progressive renal disorders
Diseases or disorders such as osteoarthritis with a high probability of arthroplasty in the next four years
Central Nervous System disease, including motor neurone disease, complex partial seizures, poorly controlled epilepsy, prion disease, Alzheimer's and other dementia, and including paraplegia and quadriplegia
Cardiac disease including ischaemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy or valve disease requiring surgical and/or other procedural intervention
Chronic obstructive respiratory disease with limited exercise tolerance and requiring oxygen
Genetic or congenital disorders: muscular dystrophies, cystic fibrosis, thalassaemia major, sickle cell anaemia if more than one sickle crisis in 4 years, severe haemophilia, and severe primary immunodeficiencies
Severe autoimmune disease, currently being treated with immuno-suppressants other than prednisone
In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe (71-90 decibels) hearing loss or profound bilateral sensori-neural hearing loss
In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe vision impairment with visual acuity of 6/36 or beyond after best possible correction, or a loss restricting the field of vision to 15-20 degrees
In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe physical disability, where they are unable to stand and walk without support, and cannot independently dress, eat, hold a cup, or maintain their stability when sitting.


The rest of this can be found here
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/nzis/operations_manual/index.htm

If you go down to index then go to medicals and xrays you will find a lot of information which is a bit of a minefield.They may decide you do not need a waiver but most medical conditions do.

What I can see is that you should be ok.

Hope this helps

Dave and Caroline

[rpearce]

Thankyou.

[silvo]

Hi

sounds like a small VSD (ventricular septal defect) - about half of these holes close spontaneously without any intervention. Even if it doesn't close on its own it can usually be ignored if it is a small hole. The NZ immigration Doc's will only be concerned if you have a condition that is likely to cost the NZ taxpayer lots to treat or fix. So I wouldn't worry as a small VSD will not represent any costs.

The Doc that did our medicals in Salford made the humorous comment that they would let someone in that had a terminal illness as long as it wasn't treatable and hence likely to generate a cost implication !!

Good luck - Neil