[lynnepow]

Hi All,
I am new here but hope you can give me some advice.

My hubby is Hepatitis B surface antigen positive and she mentioned in her letter that it it unlikely to have an acceptable standard of health.

I attached the letter with the medical bits.

What should we do now? Should we go for a specialist report. But what content should it be?

In the letter, it mentioned Medical waivers, but can we apply for that? Any other additional documents that we should provide along with the report?

Any suggestion plssss

[dusk]

Is the 'she' you are referring to your CO or MA or someone else?

[72andsunny]

My hubby is Hepatitis B surface antigen positive and she mentioned in her letter that it it unlikely to have an acceptable standard of health.

I attached the letter with the medical bits.


I don't see any attachments. Are his liver function tests abnormal? Has he ever been treated for Hep B before?

[Kea]

It might be worth getting the test repeated? Is he in a high risk group?

[Silverwing86]

Sorry to hear this :no.

Appendix 10 - Medical conditions deemed to impose significant costs and/or demands on New Zealand's health and/or education services (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/nzis/operations_manual/7642.htm)

states the following about this condition:



Hepatitis B surface antigen positive, with abnormal liver function
(emphasis mine)

so the question posed by 72andsunny seems very relevant here.

If you can manage to provide a Specialists' report that states emphatically that this condition will not pose "significant costs and/or demands on New Zealands health and/or education services", and provides strong arguments to support this statement, it may be helpful.

You could also have a look at the Residence Review Board site (http://www.residencereviewboard.govt.nz/Pages/RES_FAQ.aspx) for information on appeals to INZ decisions.

Good luck, hope you find a way around this...

Cheers,
Silver

[lynnepow]

Sorry for the confusion, it is my CO who sent me the letter.

Is the 'she' you are referring to your CO or MA or
someone else?

[lynnepow]

Sorry, it is late night last night. I attached the letter again here.

Are his liver function tests abnormal?
- His Liver Function test is Normal. We plan to get a specialist report done on this.

Has he ever been treated for Hep B before?
- No, he didn't have this problem before.


I don't see any attachments. Are his liver function tests abnormal? Has he ever been treated for Hep B before?

[lynnepow]

He has been having regular appt with the doc. Do you think it is worth to get the test repeated?


It might be worth getting the test repeated? Is he in a high risk group?

[dianney]

Hi, if he is seeing his doctor at the moment i should ask him/her for his advice and it can do no harm in repeating the tests, but ask the doc first as he/she should know.
Best of luck
Dianne

[Sun777]

I'd received similar letter (except that my OH has high BMI) and we are given time till 3rd October to get the BMI reduced and get the check up done...we are still working on it and planned to take an appointment later this week.

If nothing improves on BMI then we have to opt for Medical waiver and prove that we will be beneficial to NZ.

Isn't it ok to say that we will not take any medical benefits for next 4 yrs and get it sorted?

[unar]

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I had medical issues too, but it has all been sorted with a medical waiver. For the MA I supplied letters from my specialist explaining the condition, how things are normal, I am healthy, not on any medication and the chances of a major problem is low. The letters didn't help much though, and my case was at the MA 4 times with 4 different letters, all rejected. At the end, the medical waiver was the only option left. As far as I can tell, saying you will get private insurance etc, doesn't help at all. Other people might know a bit more about this.

Good luck!

[Sun777]

Hi Unar,
What was the process for medical waiver like?


Cheers,
Suniel

[72andsunny]

Isn't it ok to say that we will not take any medical benefits for next 4 yrs and get it sorted?

Chronic conditions have lifelong maximums of $25k, not 4 years. [But even if it were only 4 years, NZ would not go for your deal.]

For starters, I'd recommend testing for Hep E antigen. If that's negative, he's in fairly good shape. ALT you've already said was normal; here's a nice study to reference for the MA: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19378345

No matter what, OH is likely in for a 6+ month wait of blood work, liver scans, and biopsies, but I suspect that a halfway decent hepatologist can easily counter the MA's statement.

[unar]

I PMed you. :)

Quite a few people on the forum went through the MA and waiver process. Have a search, lots of useful info on here.

good luck!

[Sun777]

Thanks Una, it was much useful information. Probably has saved quite few days of endless search for me.

Cheers,
Suniel

[lynnepow]

Hi unar, is that possible to send me the information as well. I am quite keen to know about the medical waiver process.

Thanks a lot
Lynne


I PMed you. :)

Quite a few people on the forum went through the MA and waiver process. Have a search, lots of useful info on here.

good luck!

[lynnepow]

One thing I am wondering about the skill migrant application process. If my hubby's medical doesn't pass. Can I still get approved for PR as I am the principal application and hubby is the dependant applicant?

I am not so sure about this.

Anyone can shred some light on this?

P.S. I am currently looking for a specialist who can provide me the details report. It is so expensive in London. Private health clinic charges more than £200 pounds for an intial consultancy. :o We will try to get the NHS hospital specialist to write that report but it is so difficult to contact him. Will try again tommorrow.

Also, do you think it is worth to reply to my CO to tell her what im going to provide her? Or just keep quiet and send whatever docs i have before the deadline mentioned in her Letter??

[BkyMonster]

One thing I am wondering about the skill migrant application process. If my hubby's medical doesn't pass. Can I still get approved for PR as I am the principal application and hubby is the dependant applicant?

I am not so sure about this.

Anyone can shred some light on this?

Yes this is possible. However, once you do this, if the person was eligible for inclusion in the original application they will NOT be eligible for a medical waiver in the future. Our CO told us it was worth it to see it through to the end before deciding to go that route.



Also, do you think it is worth to reply to my CO to tell her what im going to provide her? Or just keep quiet and send whatever docs i have before the deadline mentioned in her Letter??
I would let her know that you have sent the documents and what is included when you send it so she can watch out for it. We had to do that as a few times it looked as if our documents would be late arriving.

[dusk]

So having had a look at the letter, i would say the most relevant part of it for you is this:


The Medical Assessor has given the following reasons for these comments:
'This individual is eligible for treatment of Hep B in New Zealand. This treatment is expensive and there is a high relapse rate and further medication is also very expensive. This is a chronic long term condition with long term possibilities of liver cancer and cirrhosis. if he is treated and found 6 months after treatment completed to be viral free would then be o.k. but at the moment not acceptable standard of health.

I have emphasised the comment from the MA that may help you out (as long as the results the MA is looking for are possible in that time frame)

[lynnepow]

Yes this is possible. However, once you do this, if the person was eligible for inclusion in the original application they will NOT be eligible for a medical waiver in the future. Our CO told us it was worth it to see it through to the end before deciding to go that route.
Thank you so much for this information. We definitely will fight till the end. However, can I please ask if we go down that route, do I need to file a new application or it could be my existing application with my current CO.


I would let her know that you have sent the documents and what is included when you send it so she can watch out for it. We had to do that as a few times it looked as if our documents would be late arriving.
Just sent her an email to tell her that I will be sending some docs and ask if she has any suggestion/advice to give. Hope she is nice.

[BkyMonster]

Thank you so much for this information. We definitely will fight till the end. However, can I please ask if we go down that route, do I need to file a new application or it could be my existing application with my current CO.



It will be your existing application, your OH will just be removed (and any points they contributed I assume). I'm not entirely sure of the process once someone has been removed though I do know Kags1694 did this. You may try searching for her posts.

[lynnepow]

In the specialist report, i will ask the following informaiton to be provided for my hubby's Hep B condition:

1. Current state
2. Any treatment required
3. Prognosis

Note: Need to have a 5-10 yr written prognostic report from the specialist who is overseeing/monitoring his hepatitis.
4. Future Medical/Surgical needs

Any other information do you think it is required or might be helpful?

Thanks a lot
Lynne

[unar]

Hi Lynne,

I just PMed you. I got all my letters from my NHS consultant all free of charge. I just love the NHS. :)

Probably a stupid question, have you tried to google his/her name? I was lucky because I worked at the Uni the hospital is associated with. You can also try to call the hospital switch board. The consultants usually have a secretary who can give you his/her email etc.

And the list you just posted, sounds fine to me. These were the items that were in my letters. But my MA rounds all ended in rejection, probably has more to do with my condition than the quality of the letters. :)

-Una

[lynnepow]

Hi Lynne,

I just PMed you. I got all my letters from my NHS consultant all free of charge. I just love the NHS. :)

Probably a stupid question, have you tried to google his/her name? I was lucky because I worked at the Uni the hospital is associated with. You can also try to call the hospital switch board. The consultants usually have a secretary who can give you his/her email etc.

And the list you just posted, sounds fine to me. These were the items that were in my letters. But my MA rounds all ended in rejection, probably has more to do with my condition than the quality of the letters. :)

-Una

Thank you Una. It is really helpful. My hubby's specialist has come back and he said will be able to provide us the detailed report. He has not yet told us the price. But will be cheaper than the private one for sure. Probably £150-£200. I really hope things will go smoothly. I am not giving up!

I think we need lots of luck to tackle this :raebanana

[lynnepow]

Hi All,

Apart from the specialist report, is there any other document that i should prepare?

Not sure what else i still can provide to support my application

Lynne

[sophiedb]

hello! I'm currently building my case on the medical front too, though haven't been for the actual medical yet. I'm hoping tha by having vast quantities of information available from the start things will run more smoothly..

First up I've requested all my recent medical records from the hospital at which I've been treated. I contacted their PALS office, who sent me the form. Because I'm asking for 3 years' worth of records it's costing £50 - the national maximum - but I figure the info will also come in handy for the docs in NZ considering I will need the odd check-up and a lifelong prescription for thyroxine..

I've also asked my consultant to write a summary letter of my treatment - only last Friday :) - and he agreed quite happily. He also gave me his secretary's email address, so that when we have an address in NZ he can refer me to his equivalent in Chch. (I have whinged about this doc in the past for various reasons, but he's defo coming through for me now!)

Anyway, I wanted to make sure he got everything down that might be neded, so after trawling through assorted NZIS handbooks and forms to see how they would measure my health status I put it all in a letter:


Dear Dr C,

I would appreciate it very much if you could write a letter summarising my treatment for thyroid cancer over the last couple of years, which would become part of my application for residency in New Zealand.

The NZIS panel doctor and medical assessor will need to know whether I have a medical condition “deemed to impose significant costs and/or demands on New Zealand's health and/or education services”.

The NZIS Operations Manual states that “malignancies where the interval since treatment is such that the probability of cure is >90%” are not considered to impose significant costs and/or demands on New Zealand.

Based on the Handbook for Medical Examiners and the medical form itself, the panel doctor will need to know:

Date of diagnosis
Site and staging of malignancy
Histology reports
Details of all treatment
Prognosis

From there he can report whether I am sufficiently cured, which must then be confirmed by the medical assessor in London.

I have requested copies of my health records from Poole Hospital so that these can be reviewed as part of my medical test, however a letter summarising my treatment and stating my prognosis would be very useful when it comes to submitting the application.

Many thanks in advance.

Yours sincerely,

sophiedb

Thankfully he agrees that my probability of cure is >90%”, so fingers crossed that all will be well! He also didn't mention a charge for the letter, so I didn't ask or offer..

Hope this helps a little anyway, and good luck!

[lynnepow]

hello! I'm currently building my case on the medical front too, though haven't been for the actual medical yet. I'm hoping tha by having vast quantities of information available from the start things will run more smoothly..

First up I've requested all my recent medical records from the hospital at which I've been treated. I contacted their PALS office, who sent me the form. Because I'm asking for 3 years' worth of records it's costing £50 - the national maximum - but I figure the info will also come in handy for the docs in NZ considering I will need the odd check-up and a lifelong prescription for thyroxine..

I've also asked my consultant to write a summary letter of my treatment - only last Friday :) - and he agreed quite happily. He also gave me his secretary's email address, so that when we have an address in NZ he can refer me to his equivalent in Chch. (I have whinged about this doc in the past for various reasons, but he's defo coming through for me now!)

Anyway, I wanted to make sure he got everything down that might be neded, so after trawling through assorted NZIS handbooks and forms to see how they would measure my health status I put it all in a letter:



Thankfully he agrees that my probability of cure is >90%”, so fingers crossed that all will be well! He also didn't mention a charge for the letter, so I didn't ask or offer..

Hope this helps a little anyway, and good luck!

Hi sophie,
Thank you for the information. I can see that you are also going through the same 'MA' process as us.

It is my hubby who is Hepatitis B carrier and we are preparing to reply to our CO. Luckily, his specialist actually mentioned that he doesn't need any treament at this stage as he is low infectivity carrier and his prognosis is quite good and is unlikly to develop cirrhosis or liver cancer even though my hubby still require repeated blood tests twice yearly.

Hope MA will agree that in his situation, he will not impost any significant cost to New Zeland Health's Services.

All the best for all of us, do let us know how you are getting on. I plan to send out the reponse the coming Monday.

Lynne