I am so glad to have found this site..! My first post and in need of some advice or anyone willing to share any personal experience. We are thinking of migrating to Oz. But I am unsure whether our visa application will be rejected or not due to my 6-year-old daughter existing conditions. The story began when she was 9 months old. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy at the local children’s hospital. But in vain and we were told that there was nothing much could be done for her and she wouldn’t live past her 1st birthday. But thanks to the internet and forum like this one, I made in contact with surgeons and doctors in New York. We managed to raise around £250k and we moved to New York to save her life. Seven months later, we were back home and Megan was on the road to recovery. She is now 4-years off treatment and the cancer is in remission. However, because of all the surgeries and chemotherapies, she is slow in her development and she is attending a special need school. She is also taking daily growth hormone injection and three types of medication to control her seizures and to help her sleep at night. I know these medicines are expensive to purchase. She obviously gets them free over here with repeat prescriptions.

My question is: based on Megan’s existing conditions, medical requirements and special education needs, should we just forget our dreams of moving to Oz? After what we’ve been through here, we would like to start fresh and a new life but she seems to get her needs met over here. I am a chemical engineer and I am hoping to apply via the independent skilled worker visa.

Any thoughts, please? Yhanks.

Walt

Hi Walt,

I'm afraid that you are unlikely to get an answer over the forum. Can I suggest that you contact a professional immigration agent who will be able to point you towards the experts who will be able to assess your chances?

Another option may be to contact your local panel doctor (who do the medicals for Australian immigration) and ask them for advice.

Good luck with it!

We all wish you the best Walt.

If you are successful with a route to OZ we would love to provide other advice on relocation. But for specific immigration status its best to use an agent - try Alan Collett he is a BE member and a good agent from all accounts.

Kiwi

I think the OP is also asking about the prospects for his daughter if they are successful in getting into Australia.

I can only give my impressions on Queensland (Health Services and Education vary from State to State.) We've found that we have to spend a lot on our children's health. For example, children's prescriptions are not free. There is government help available through the tax and Medicare systems, and beyond a certain threshold every year the government claims to meet your out-of-pocket medical expenses; look on it like the excess on an insurance policy. Many people complain of long waits in the public system, but the parallel private system appears able to cope if you can pay for it. I was surprised to find that private health care here is still based on shared risk across the population. Even pre-existing, long-term, conditions are covered at normal rates if you pay into a fund for the qualifying period. As far as I understand the system, it's not like car insurance where frequent expensive claims cause your personal premiums to rise and eventually to be refused insurance. This explains why the government subsidises the system and uses a lifetime loading to encourage people to enter the system from an early age and stay with it.

We have also found that the communication between health professionals here is better than the maze we found at home. Disability services and special needs educational provision are also patchy, but effort and money are being put into them. Disability services in particular seem to be farmed out to quangos rather than delivered by the state directly.

I hope this gives you some idea of what to expect here. I would suggest seeing what specialist services your daughter needs in the UK, and getting in touch with the hospitals and service providers in the area that you are interested in and asking what is realistically available. We have found professionals in all fields here to be very willing to discuss what is available on paper and in reality. If you can find an area with the services that your daughter needs, and if you can get her through the medical hurdles for migration, then I think she would be very welcome over here.

Good Luck!

Hi Walt. I can only echo what others have said on here - that whilst there is a public health system, you'll undoubtedly have to spend a considerable amount of money to keep your daughter well. I think all of us on this site know where you're coming from when you express your desire for a fresh start, but the NHS appears to be serving you well at the moment and I'm not sure that the mixture of public and private health schemes here, combined with your daughter's very specific schooling needs would necessarily be best served in Australia. However you really should speak to one of the good migration agents, several of whom frequent this site offering excellent free advice to would-be Australian migrants - both Allen Collett and George Lombard know what they're talking about and would be able to give you the rock solid information you obviously required. Best of luck to you and your family, and especially Megan, whether your future lies in the UK or Australia.

Hi Walt,

I would suggest you consult a migration lawyer who deals with people who have medical conditions that may affect the visa application. He is often mentioned on this forum. His name is Peter Bollard. His email address is: http://users.bigpond.net.au/onk/

It is vital that you get advice *before* you submit the visa application!

Gina

Hi All,

Thanks for all the answers. Looks like an imigration agent is the way to go. By the way, how do I get in touch with "Allen Collett and/or George Lombard"? Wish me and my family luck.

Walt

Hi Walt

If you just use the search facility on the top of the page put in George Lombard and all discussion threads appeartaining to him will come up - have just done it (haven't quite worked out to do hyperlink yet! )
but his web site is
www.austimmigration.com.au (hope this is right
also look on the migration forum and you'll see loads of info there.

all the best to you and yours

private banjamin

http://www.mia.org.au/profiles/collett.htm

http://www.mia.org.au/profiles/lombard.htm

Good Luck guys!

Wishing you and your family lots and lots luck.

I would second what the others have said and contact an agent.

You can get in touch with Allan Collett via his website: http://www.gomatilda.com

Contact details are on the website.

We used "Go Matilda" for our visa and were very happy with them.

Good luck.

Gina

Hi gina how much did go matilda cost for your VISA were looking at a 136 we have got our TRA just wanted to know how much roughly a VISA would cost.

Good luck Walt you're in for a battle and a half. Hope you get some good honest professional advice and you find out what the next step is sooner rather than later!