[KatieBen]

Another mail from the CO today - our second opinion / referral to the MA has had the same result as the first. My husband (with his 20% chance of needing renal transplant in 50 years time) is going to cost NZ health services too much money, so residence application unlikely to be successful.

Now all we can do is request consideration for a medical waiver (he won't need dialysis within the first 4 years so we qualify for consideration at least).

Our CO has stated that with the information we have currently submitted (job offer, starting salary confirmed at $190,000; evidence of our intended contribution to NZ; letters from medical specialist pointing out that my husband will not cost them as much as they are saying; letter from my future employer stating how difficult they have found it to fill this job and how they are going to be struggling to fulfil their own service commitments [to NZ Health!] if I cannot come over) - we are unlikely to be granted PR. We will need to send them something more, although right now I have no idea what else I can send them.

How come I have a good job offer and yet cannot get a visa to work there, while people with no job but A1 health can get PR?! How does INZ know they will get work and not be a burden on the social system, especially in a time of recession and unemployment at record highs?

Sorry if someone has recently got PR with no job, no personal digs intended. Just a little hacked off at the system right now.

[Elainep]

How frustrating for you. We don't have any experience of the whole waiver process but hopefully someone will come along soon with a suggestion of what else you can include to swing the decision your way. Keep at it and good luck :nice1

[willow]

You must feel like strangling someone, especially as you are in the medical profession and have such an understanding of the risk of his condition needing dialysis. We submitted our ITA etc at the same time as yours and we are having a real run around with medicals.so far it has cost us £1,000 for ed psych reports for our sons dyslexia (the fact he has an IQ of 142 and is doing brilliantly as school seems to have passed them by!) and for me to see a rheumatologist for him to tell them I don't have a condition that I never had anyway!! all so maddening and frustrating.

perhaps we are both with the same MA!! I was hoping today (it is usually a friday we get emails asking me to spend more money), but nothing. If you read Britzy's post they used a solicitor who specialises in immigration medicals and even though it may be more money it could sort it out once and for all.

it actually makes me wonder why we are all giving our hard earned money to the panel doctors as no one at NZIS seems to take any notice of their comments of our good health anyway!

[Silverwing86]

Hi KatieBen,

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the MA's. Although my situation is obviously very different from yours, as someone who has been through the wringer with them (4 rounds :eek: !), I totally understand your frustration.

What I did in the final round, was write a letter in my own name to respond to the comments the MA had made. It was very obvious from those comments that they hadn't even reviewed the case properly at all.

I quote from an earlier post I wrote (http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?p=227418#post227418) about my situation (July 2008):

In my case it took four rounds of providing extra information. Ending with me writing a scintillating (sp ?) letter to them accompanying the final specialist reports, asking them (most politely of course) what the heck they thought they were doing, as it was pretty obvious from their last conclusion that they hadn't even read all the information properly !!

What they suggested in their final conclusion made me quite angry because I felt it was insulting, and I made very sure, again most politely, that they were aware of my feelings on the subject (luckily I'm pretty good at writing letters like that :D).

In the end the Visa Officer ignored all the, obviously faulty and highly ambiguous ("we think she doesn't conform to an acceptable standard of health, but we can't be sure", that kind of thing :rolleyes: !), conclusions the MA's had made since they only made it more difficult for her to make her decision rather than easier (which is what they're supposed to do !), and just went ahead and gave us PR anyway :clap.

Don't give up hope as I believe you have an excellent case for a waiver. Have you been able to speak directly to your Case Officer about your situation yet ? How does he/she feel about the MA's conclusions ?

Remember also, if worse should come to worst (and I sincerely hope it won't !) there is always the Residence Review Board (http://www.residencereviewboard.govt.nz/pages/res_home.aspx) that you could appeal to. I'm pretty sure you have a very strong case to put to them. Have a read there, you could be quite surprised by what kinds of situation people find themselves in and how they manage to persevere.

Don't give up, you would obviously be a valuable asset to NZ. It might take some time and persuasion, but it must be possible to overcome this hurdle ! Please feel free to PM me if you'd like to know more or discuss further.

Good luck !

Cheers,
Silver

[muzz333]

WE are using the same lawyers as Britzy, Lane Neave based in Christchurch. The senior partner there is a guy called Mark Williams. If you contact him he will arrnage for a FOC telephone conversation (30-60 mins) to discuss your situation and options.

You get one chance to apply for a medical waiver and these guys leave no stone unturned in their quest for INZ to grant this.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do