Gill84

I heard last week that my medical has been referred to the external medical assessor. This is a real blow, as I was hoping to have my visa in 2 weeks time and be flying to NZ at the beginning of July. This is not looking like it's going to happen now.
Has anyone else been through this? How long did the referral to the external medical assessor take?
Also...the reason for my medical referral is that I had an abnormal smear test 2 years ago, and had to have laser treatment for this. But my check ups 6 months later, then 12 months later were both fine. I've just been for another check up (this one is 24 months after the treatment), and should get the results back in a week - I'm hoping that this might help to speed things up - if the external medical assessor insists I need a recent check-up, I can say I've just had one. Fingers crossed the results are ok
I'm now just so worried that they could refuse my visa (it's a partnership based, temporary work visa).
Has anyone else had their medical referred for a similar reason? What are the chances of it getting completely refused?
I've already been apart from my OH for nearly 3 months...the 'not knowing' and delays and uncertainty is gutting.

pintaguiness-pickledegg

Don't worry about this. Typical of NZ Immigration that even a slight whiff of previous treatment and they refer the medical.
It only took a week to sort out my husband's referred medical and I spoke directly to my case officer (who was lovely and helpful) a couple of times. As soon as she got the result, she was on the blower telling me we had our visas!! Result.
They are merely stalling, but if there is any way that you can have a copy of the smear result on you so that you yourself could fax it if needed then that is what I would advise, cuts down on the time and you have control over it.
Best of luck

Gill84

Thanks for your reply. That's positive news that your husband's medical was processed so quickly. My case officer told me its likely to take 3 weeks for the medical assessor to get back to her, but I'm hoping it won't take this long. As you suggested, I'll definately get a paper copy of my smear results to fax through to them if needed. Just need to really hope now that the results are ok...if they're not, I have a feeling this could really muck up my chances of a visa.

Persephone

I can't see why this should be a problem, it's probably more a formality than anything else. Abnormal cervical cells are common and not necessarily indicative of cancer or anything serious. Any possible medical problem will get referred to a MA since case officers aren't medically qualified to make a decision. I wouldn't call it stalling.

You've had a recent test just in case they ask for that to be done.

Don't worry too much, hope you hear from them soon and get that shiny new visa in your passport!
I can't help with the time scale, sorry.

Good luck

MrsFychan

I agree don't worry, although a pain in the bum anything picked up has to be referred. Mine was for clouding on the lung on the xray, took two weeks for it to come back clear, was just a remnant of pleurisy I had many years ago.

As suggested as soon as you get your results back I would email them through to your CO

lisamct

I had pretty much the same circumstances as you as far as smear results are concerned but that didn't get referred, what did get referred was the eye surgery I had had 13 years previously (surgery to repair an acute condition and discharged fully from the consultant 12 years ago)
Took about a month to get sorted after having to track down the secretary of the now retired Ophthalmology Consultant that did the operation to get confirmation of no on going issues, if you have a recent result they can go of of that should speed things up a bit.

escapedtonz

Hi,
Sorry your going through the MA process.
Yes we have experience of this. Luckily we knew it was going to happen, but the whole referral still delayed us by approx 13 months, which wasn't expected!
It took about 3 months just to get a letter from the MA asking for further information etc, then another few weeks for us to respond, then another 3 months till a decision came through.
The first MA ruled that my wife would cost the NZ Health System too much for a lifelong illness - i.e. over $25000 (at the time). This threshold has now been lifted to $41000.
We then appealed so had to wait for Immigration to assign another MA then wait for their verdict which was the same.
At that point we should have gone the Medical Waiver route, but something in us knew the MA decision was totally wrong and unfounded so we had to prove them wrong instead
We employed the services of an NZ specialist who was an expert in the particular field we needed to write a report on my wife's illness notes that we had brought over from the UK. These even included all consultant notes and higher medical authority meeting notes that discussed my wife's condition plus DVD's of her actual investigation operations.
He ruled in complete favour with what we knew to be true and the decision that her own UK consultant had reported a number of times.
With this report (from a medical expert) on the table, Immigration had no option but to ignore the MA reports and rule they had no substance.
Telephone interview followed very quickly after this then notification that we had secured the visas.
Fantastic result and so happy to prove two MA's completely incompetent but as I said it delayed us 13 months and cost us heaps more in fees.

I'd say that's a worst case scenario though.

All the MA is doing is calculating how much you will cost the NZ Health System. You can help by maybe changing medication to one that is cheaper to supply in NZ or be proactive like you are doing and have an up to date test.

Good luck!

Gill84

I just got my check up results back - much quicker than the doctor had suggested - and they are all clear, no abnormalities! What a relief! I've spoken to my case officer, but she says she would only ask me to send her my results if the external medical assessor requests them. So I still have to wait for him to get back to me. I've already got a recent letter from the consultant that treated me 2 years ago in the UK, as well as copies of all my clear results since then, which have been sent to the MA already. Here's hoping that'll be enough though!

Lisamct - I can't believe they referred you for a minor eye problem that was sorted out 13 years ago! But I suppose, as Persephone said, the case officers probably just have to follow procedures and refer every little medical issue to someone who knows what they're talking about.

Escapedtonz - I have to say, your experience sounds really horrific - 13 months delay!! I'm assuming your wife's condition was very severe and required ongoing treatment? I hope she is better now, and you are both enjoying life in NZ!

Thanks for your words of encouragement. Fingers crossed I hear some more good news within the next week!

Persephone

Excellent news! Hope you hear back from them soon

escapedtonz

Hi,
My wife was diagnosed with either Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis back in 2006. The consultant couldn't decide one way or the other for a while then eventually decided it was more UC than Crohn's. Same treatment for either!
Luckily she has never needed surgery and has only ever been in a bad way when first diagnosed. She is taking an Anti-Immflamatory drug daily and will have to for the rest of her days.
She has probably got the least severe form of the disease as possible. We know this as I have a friend and my wife has an Uncle who both suffer from Crohn's Disease and both have been very ill a number of times.

The MA's (who are only registered GP's that offer their assistance to INZ - much like UK panel doctors) ruled that my wife would have to take 8 x tablets a day for the rest of her life, plus certain surgery, plus ongoing consultations which all totalled above the $25000 threshold - all complete rubbish and just went to prove how little they knew of the disease.
The UK consultant (who is an expert in gastric diseases) wrote a numer of letters to the MA's and INZ rubbishing the MA's claim and their costings - I mean he should know as she was his patient for 5 years!!!
The MA's and INZ just ignored his advice even though they had a number of things wrong.
The drugs they were using in their calculation was wrong, the cost of the drugs was wrong, the number of drugs required to maintain the condition was wrong and their certainty of surgery and many consultations wrong.
The only option we had was to use the services of an expert in NZ who was way more qualified than any MA to report on her condition - this worked out just as we thought it would.

Was all pretty funny when we had been here just a month or so. We joined an ex pats Facebook page and met up with a few of them for coffee. Spent a lot of time talking to a particular American who has been in NZ with his wife for years. Asked him what he did for a job - only the Chief Gastric Disease Specialist Consultant of the area!!! Ha ha. My wife is now one of his patients and all is good. Only a routine check up and no surgery and is maintained on 2 x tablets a day.

So our opinion of an MA......probably as useless as a chocolate fireguard!!!

Oh and yes we are loving life in NZ thanks.

Hope your experience isn't a difficult one.

Good luck