Considering WHV/Immigration options & have Hydrocephalus
 

Hi all, I was redirected here from the Welcome Inn and hope I can get some country-specific advice.

I'm considering becoming an expat at some point in the future and thought that it would be a good start to come here to get some advice. At present, I'm living in Wales and am an MA student in my mid 20s. Unfortunatly, I suffer from Hydrocephalus (albeit quite a mild form) which is making me consider my options carefully for the sake of my health. At the moment, I don't require any meds but whenever I need my shunt drained (only 3 times since the age of 5 weeks *touch wood*) I need to go to Liverpool as that's where the nearest neurology centre to me is at present. Now as well as employment, housing and generally settling in, I'd need to consider the facilities available in NZ in case I happened to need my shunt drained whilst overseas. Ideally, they'd need to be just as good if not better than the facilities in Liverpool, so if anyone has any experience of neurological centres in New Zealand and could tell me how they stack up compared to any treatment they've had in the UK that'd be very much appreciated.

Also, would the Hydrocephalus count against me re the health requiremenbts that Immigration New Zealand have in place? I've looked at the site but am still none the wiser unfortunatly.

As for the question of why leave Wales considering my current situation, it's, for me at least, a question of having less strain and a better quality of life than if I were to stay in Wales as I have been getting a lot of aggro since my mother passed away last year, and stress of that kind has the potential to land me in hospital, something I do not want. As a result, I'm feeling the need for either an extended holiday (hence the WHV) or perhaps a clean break.

Now I do of course realise that making this kind of move also has its own stresses, however, I have taken these into consideration whilst weighing up my options.

I've been considering factors such as my Health and safety in the main, and this is why New Zealand appeals. I do of course realise that it's no mean feat to move to NZ as they, of course, expect potential immigrants to have skills that arent so widely available from their own citizens. I am hoping to complete a PhD following on from my MA which I've nearly completed so am seriously considering a career in academia, which is on the New Zealand LTSS.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated from those who have experience of Hydreocephalus and/or WHVs.

Thanks in advance. :)

Re: Considering WHV/Immigration options & have Hydrocephalus
 

Welcome!

I can't answer your questions on hydrocephalus as they are very specific. Ditto your questions on specific health facilities for drainage.

As for visas, if you're planning on staying in NZ for longer than 12 months then you will have to provide a medical certificate. So a 12month WHV does not require one but a 23m one will.
Your application will be referred to the Medical Assessor. This is to assess the possible costs to NZ of you living here.

A search on this forum did not bring up any previous posts on hydrocephalus unfortunately.

For a permanent visa ie residency application, the medical assessor will be looking to check that you are not going to cost NZ more than $41,000.

Another thing to be aware of is that the LTSSL does change over time and what is in shortage now may well not be in the future.

I don't think anyone can predict how the medical assessors will decide. They may well be perfectly happy with your medical history and it's not a problem. Or, they may not...

Re: Considering WHV/Immigration options & have Hydrocephalus
 

Thanks very much for the welcome Persephone! I had noticed that the medical + chest x-rays weren't needed for the 12-month visa on INZs website which is why I was considering it in order to 'test the waters' as it were.

I did think about whether any application for a WHV would be referred or not, however as I haven't had anything done medically since 2009, hopefully that wouldn't be a barrier to me getting a visa.

Thanks for having a look, I did try and look for the search bar to have a look and see if there was any other threads by people in the same boat, but couldn't find it unfortunatly.

Thanks very much for all of the advice, very much appreciated.

Re: Considering WHV/Immigration options & have Hydrocephalus
 

If you're not certain about NZ then the 12m visa would mean no medicals. Only thing to organise would be where to go if there was a need for drainage.

Having needed little treatment in the past should work in your favour anyway. If it looks like you'll cost less to look after...:)
I only deal with animals so not sure how similar the pathogenesis is in humans;)

Re: Considering WHV/Immigration options & have Hydrocephalus
 

Thanks, I did think that perhaps the 12m option would be the way to go. I've definatly got my fingers crossed that the fact I've only needed to go under the knife for this about 3 times in my life will count in my favour. :fingerscrossed: :)

Re: Considering WHV/Immigration options & have Hydrocephalus
 

Me again, :)

After having done some further research, I came across this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/ex...alth-care.html
Now clearly, as my intention in the near future is to go for a WHV for 12 months, not everything in this article applies to me right now (I've also noted the date of the article, so of course things could have changed by now.)

A couple of things do stand out however, i.e. the UK-NZ reciprocal health cover in case of emergencies. In my case this would of course be a blocked shunt which would need draining, so definatly an emergency (though as I've previously said, the chances of that happenning are remote *touch wood*.)
It goes without saying though that I'd get appropriate travel insurance in any case, as I wouldn't want to take anything for granted re what constitutes an emergency under the UK-NZ agreement.
The only thing that looks remotly like a sticking point for me though is the list of conditions that are in the article. I have noted that visual impairments (I'm short-sighted) and genetic and congenital disorders (the Hydrocephalus presumably be included here) are listed. Having said that though, it looks as though that only applies to getting treatment in the state health system (for people with PR?) and not getting into NZ on a WHV. Also, as has already been mentioned, due to how infrequent any treatment has been for me over the past 25 years, I would hope that it wouldn't be an issue in any case.

Also, during the course of my web browsing, I've found that there are neurosurgery/neurology wards in Auckland and ChCh, so it looks as though I should make sure to be in or around one of those general areas during the 12 months of my WHV, so any general advice about the atmosphere, lifestyle, safety (i.e. no-go areas) etc. of either city would be very much appreciated. :)

Thanks.

Re: Considering WHV/Immigration options & have Hydrocephalus
 

As well as what I've posted above already, I've been doing a bit more thinking and perhaps I might be better suited to Christchurch than Auckland or at least it would be less of a culture shock. As I live literally in the middle of nowhere, I'm thinking that living in a city, even for 12 months might be a shock to the system, so perhaps the smaller of the 2 may be better?

But then, considering that Christchurch is still recovering from the quakes I'm not sure, perhaps Auckland may be better after all. What do other posters think of the 2 cities? Perhaps a bit of perspective from residents might help me make a more informed choice between the two.