[buraian-kun]

Taken from: Appendix 10 (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/nzis/operations_manual/7642.htm)

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


Okay, that's pretty straight forward.

Here's the part I don't quite get:


Exceptions are:

1. treated minor skin malignancies (not melanoma)
2. 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.


Maybe it's because I speak American and not English, but I'm not sure what is meant by "exception" in this case. I assumed that these are exceptions from the above restrictions, meaning that if you have any of the following conditions, you're not likely to be refused. However, some of these exceptions do sound like they would impose quite a "burden" on the system. So I'm a bit confused.

Here's my specific situation: My wife has ulcerative colitis. Every doctor she goes to says that it's very mild, and it is fairly well controlled with (non-steroidal) medication.

I've been adding up all the fees I'm likely to pay during the course of applying for PR, and I'd really like to find out first what the odds are that they'll bar the door because of her health. Is the Ministry of Health pretty helpful with this sort of thing?

It seems that Natcopia has run into some difficulties with a similar condition, so I'm a little worried.

This also worries me a bit:

Effective 28/11/2005

No update to this document in almost three years? Seems unlikely. Anyone know if there's a more recent version out there?

Cheers,
-Brian*

[BkyMonster]

Looks like it might be exceptions beyond the above restrictions, though I think some people with some of the things on that list have gotten medical waivers. Seems I saw a case where someone who had had breast cancer was granted one. Kind of looks to me that 1 and 2 on the second quoted bit are actual exceptions and the rest of the list is not. Not sure though.

Ah. I think I see. A and B are exceptions to the malignancies section and the rest of the starred conditions are not likely to be granted approval.
Not so great formatting.

Can't help you with the rest, but I get the impression that well controlled disorders are usually allowed with suitable documentation of the condition and the severity.

I haven't seen anything newer in terms of a list or form though.

[wilson182]

Brian

My husband has Ulcerative colitus and we were able to get firstly a work permit and then PR. All is meant was that his medical was sent for assessment when we applied for PR which we still got after only three weeks. The routine medical care here is excellent and available on the public health system, and his particular medication is govnmnt subsidised - so not expensive

HTH