littlejimmy

Hi. Don't know if anyone can help here, but would having a prosthetic hip (done 5 months ago with expected 10-15 years lifespan) make it difficult for me to pass the medical / health requirements for residency in NZ?

Cheers.

littlejimmy

OK. Maybe the wrong question. Try this:

If you do fail to qualify for permanent residence, is it possible to work and live in NZ on a renewable work visa arrangement?

BEVS

If you have a job offer and the NZ employer is entitled to offer you that work , then you can live and work here on a temporary work visa. These are renewable but be aware that this is not automatic.

Re. prosthetic hip (done 5 months ago with expected 10-15 years lifespan). It could depend as to why you needed this done.
Is there an underlying condition?
An application can be referred to an NZ medical assessor.

littlejimmy

Thanks for the answer, BEVS.

The condition was a disease in the hip that I had as a child which destroyed the ball of the joint. The prosthetic is 100 times better than the old hip I had and the only issue with it is that I will need another replacement in 10 or 15 years.

teeym

Not sure if this helps, but I wrote to NZ Ministry of Health rather speculatively asking for help with regard to a current condition. They came back within a couple of days with encouraging news. The criteria from their point of view was any problem costing $25k+ over a four year period (although I think for a condition where a future expense is known this also extends longer term) is likely to be a firm "no", however from their table of costs and information provided, I would look like being around 1/10th of that figure.

It may be a good idea to get in touch with them, as they were nothing but helpful with me. Don't want to get your hopes up, but I tapped "hip replacement cost" into Google.co.nz and it returned THIS which gives an estimated procedural cost of $17k.

Keeping fingers crossed for you!

BEVS

I'd say you would need to gather all and everything you could about why you needed the hip replaced .
i.e. Consultants report. Prognosis etc.

NZIS will want to check costs as per Teeym's post. You would probably find yourself on the end of a medical referral so it's better to be forearmed.

We know of one case on here where there was a medical referral because a child had experience 'growing pains' - Osgood-shlatter disease. They went on to gain PR.

niallf

Hi from sunny nelson, nz. I had exactly the same issue as I had a total hip replacement and the other hip drilled full of titanium about 6 months before we started the visa process. Once the surgeon confirmed the lifespan of the hips and that there was no underlying problems we had no difficulty in gaining my returning residents visa. You will need to get detailed information from your surgeon on the lifespan and prognosis. The more information he can give the less chance of you having to make repeated calls for said information required by NZ House. Good luck::