Medical Concerns

[Jodi&Tony]

Originally Posted by mick+lulu

Just wondered if anyone had any probelms with medical conditions ? My husband has ulcerative colitis, he will be on medication for the rest of his life. Will this affect our
application ?

Hi Lulu

Myself and my husband were ticking all of the boxes for our PM visa, until a few months ago he was mis-diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. He was taking azathioprine for it, which poisoned his liver and he ended up in hospital. They since found out that it was another auto-immune disease called Dermatomyositis (very rare). He is undergoing a gentle regime of chemotherapy every two weeks for the next six months, so that his hair doesn't fall out and doesn't suffer the side effects too badly. After that, he should be on a tablet form of medication to keep it under control for the rest of his life. We are due to undergo our medicals on Jan 2nd 08 and we are really loosing hope. Since travelling and working in Oz five years ago, emigrating has been our dream and the thought that we may not get it is so depressing. Our emigration lawyer can't really shed any light on it as she has never come across this disease in any applications before - I think she is just keeping her fingers crossed for us.
We also have a family sponsor to give us points over the threshold.

I wish you all the best and If anyone has any experience to give us, we would be very grateful, as we are so upset and losing all hope of ever having our dream!

Jodi & Tony x

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Jodi & Tony

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

I have started a new, separate thread about your own medical concerns because I want to make sure that a couple of Migration Agents read your post specifically.

You speak of your emigration lawyer. Does this mean that you are in the USA or Canada? Just wondering, not that it makes any difference to the question you have asked. What is relevant, however, is to ask whether your lawyer is registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority and whether she is also a Member of the Migration Institute of Australia?

From what you say, it seems that an application for a Family Sponsored Permanent skilled visa was made and then Tony's present condition was diagosed, and treatment for it has begun. It seems that the chemo is scheduled to continue for some time yet, after which Tony will be put on to maintenance pills for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile your Meds are booked for 2nd Jan 2008 and it is no help at all that the Silly Season is about to begin as well.

I your shoes, I would be sitting down with my Registered Migration Agent and saying, "What do you think, please? Should we leave the current application running, go ahead with the Meds as currently planned and see what happens, or would it be better to withdraw the current application, give Tony's medical situation a chance to sort itself out and to settle down, and then try again with another application at a later stage?"

That is a perfectly valid question to ask of a professional and in my opinion, "Don't know" is not an adequate answer. I would expect any Agent instructed by me to be able to work out and explain the pros and cons of both options to me. I would also expect him or her to be able to guide me and answer my questions. Ignorance of the answer is a research opportunity as far as I am concered.....

However, it is FAR too complex a question for anyone to deal with on a public forum like this.

LOADS of different factors are relevant, not least the fact that the current application carries a right for your sponsor to appeal to the Migration Review Tribunal on your behalf in the event of a visa refusal on medical grounds. That is a valuable right because it enables a second bite at the medical cherry, potentially, via involving the Review Medical Officer of the Commonwealth if push should come to shove on the Meds. You would lose that right if you withdraw the current application because they did away with family sponsorship for skilled visas in the shake up o 1st September 2007, so I imagine that the ability to go to the mRT disappeared with it (though I do not know for sure and I do NOT get involved with visa queries in any professional sense whatsoever, hence my knowledge of them is very far from watertight. I merely know bits & bobs but they do not add up to a whole in your own situation.)

On the other hand, getting into the clutches of the MOC at this stage might not be the best strategy either. It sounds to be as if it is likely to be some considerable time before Tony's Consultant is likely to be able to provide the MOC with a reasonably confident prognosis for the next 3-10 years. I imagine that the Consultant would want to finish the chemo, get Tony onto the pills, give him time to settle down on those and then see how the land lies after maybe 6 or so months on the pills?

The MOC DOES have the patience of Job, which is something. The MOC service is provided by a group of Goverment doctors out iAustralia, and the one thing they will NOT do is try to hurry Tony's Consultant for a premature prognosis. The application will just go into limbo until Tony's Consultat is ready to advise further. DIAC will be content with that. This is not the first time it has happened.

In your shoes, I would be getting a second opinion from a Registered Migration Agent in Sydney called George Lombard. He is a lawyer and an RMA. He is not a medical expert himself but he is in touch with loads of different doctors in Oz. He can find out about medical conditions, however rare, and can consider what the medics tell him in the light of what the Migration legislation provides. Plus he has stacks of hands-on experience of handling MRT appeals should that become necessary.

George's website is here:

Welcome to Austimmigration | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd.

He does not post on PiO but he posts a lot on British Expats, which is British Expatriate Community : British Expat Community

Best wishes

Gill

[Jodi&Tony]

Hi Gill

Thank you so much for your extensive reply. It seems that you help out a lot of people on the site, which is great.

I am in the UK and using an agent called Ambler Collins, so far they have been very good, but as you say, I have not had any real advice as to what we should do.
To be honest, we have spent nearly a few thousand already and I still want to go for it. I couldn't live with the 'what if' if we stopped the application now.

I will get into contact with George, he sounds like he could really help out - thank you so much for this!
Maybe hope is not lost yet!
I will keep you informed with any news.

Thank you so much again!
x
Jodi & Tony x

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Jodi

Hmmm. Thanks for your reply.

I've just had a look at the Ambler Collins website. They claim Membership of various professional bodies but the Migration Institute of Australia is not one of them, I notice. Also, on the page dealing with Australian Visas, they do not say that they are bound by (or that they even necessarily adhere to) the MARA Code of Conduct.

The MARA is the Migration Agents Registration Authority, which is based in Australia (as is the MIA.) Within Australia, it is a criminal offence to offer immigration assistance for reward unless the person giving the assistance is MARA-qualified and registered.

Outside Australia there is no such requirement, so Ambler Collins are free to act as they choose.

I'm not going to ask the name of the lady advising you - that would not be fair on you or on her. But please have a look here:

Migration Agents Registration Authority

If the lady advising you is a MARA-registered Agent, you will be able to search the Register and find her. The first two digits of an Agent's Registered Number indicate the year in which s/he first became MARA-registered. It is not a foolproof indication of experience and/or know how, but it is better than no indication at all in my opinion.

I think it would definitely be worth your while to get a second opinion from George about your situation.

Best wishes

Gill

[melissa]

Hi Guys

Don't lose hope, l have heard so many different things about how unwell or how serious a condition has to be before they refuse you entry. Hang on in there, these forums are such a help. It does seem to be a weak point with many migration agents having no clue about medical conditions.

I have pigmentary glaucoma which was diagnosed before it damaged my sight and is now well controlled with eyedrops, my uk consultant does not want to see me again for 9 months! But no-one can tell me if this will affect our application.

I was coping ok with the worry of this, until l came home from work today, to find the result from my last smear test shows minor abnormalities. Not a huge thing, except this is a follow up test to a colopscopy to remove moderate changes last March, which was apparently a complete success removing all the affected cells and showing nothing else untoward. I was led to believe at the clinic the follow ups were just a formality, and after 2 clear tests it was back to yearly tests. They did not even mention the possibility that the test could be abnormal again. All l got with the letter was a date to go back for another test in 6 months - no explanation to what this result means in relation to my previous treatment at all!! How on earth is this going to affect my chances now???? I don't know what to do now - our visa application was recieved in Adelaide 27/8/07 and we think it will start being processed any day hopefully. We were just about to book our medicals - but will this just be throwing good money after bad??

Our Visa Agent did not even bother to inform us of all the visa changes on the 1st of September, it was just coincidence that we got it in just before the deadline. On this performance l do not expect any sort of helpful advice from them at all.

Fed up, depressed, but got to keep strong...

Melissa

[ali]

Although our medical concerns were very minor, when we went for the medical I had to take copies of letters regarding our condition (my son and I), what treatment/investigations had been offerred and the prognosis. If you can gather this information and take it with you, it can be sent with your medicals.

Ali

[toughspiders]

I would get hold of the letter sent to your GP re: your smear. The changes may just be a result of the colposcopy, It may just be things settling down. I would then ask to see a specialist and get him to draw up a letter for you prior to you going.

I have loads of nasty history that i too am worrying about..good luck to both of you
Bex

[melissa]

Hi

that sounds like a good idea - l am booking an appoinmenmt with my GP tomorrow -will probably have to wait a week or two to see him though!

You know l always felt like a healthy person until l started this malarky - l m never ill, not over weight, eat very well, l m a rower for god's sake & train 5 times a week, now here l am terrified that physically l m a Lada or a citroen 2CV, not the sleek sporty model l envisaged...

Chin up!!

[alcocainmel]

I dont know if this is slightly different to an adult having a medical condition??

However our son who is now 19 months has a medical condition called Hirschsprungs Disease (Bowel condition) and was rushed to Great Ormond Street at 2 days old and diagnosed. He had his operation at 3 months old and all went well. However 2 weeks later he caught a tummy bug (something that can be extremley dangerous to him) and he ended up back in GOSH on a ventalator and given minutes to live.

Thankfully he is now fine however he will always have Hirschsprungs Disease and therefor we must always be careful of tummy bugs, as we are very aware that the same thing could happen again. (I know that to most of us a tummy bug is not a major problem, however for him it could be life thretening if he doesnt get the correct treatment).

When we applied for his PR visa he like all people had to have a medical and we had to provide detailed letters from his Dr's in London with regards to his condition. Obviously we were concerned as there is no guarentees that this will not happen again, although we remain very positive!!

He was granted his visa in October this year!!

Please try and stay positive. Good luck
Deb xx

[calNgary]

Hiya we had similar problems when applying for a visa regarding my medical condition.I understand what Gill is saying about your agent but i had a reputable agent who asked lots of other agents and none knew how my condition would affect the application,i think theres only so much they can guarantee you.I was diagnosed with a liver disease which will ultimately lead to liver failure,when our meds were recieved in oz we were asked to go and see a panel specialist for his verdict,cost another few quid but if it got us the golden ticket we didnt care!!Basically they then calcute the cost you will be on the australian health system over the next 10yrs,im only on tablet medication and as my liver 'shouldnt' fail for at least 10yrs was deemed to be ok thus we recieved the golden ticket 2 weeks after the specialist report was recieved in Oz.Its easy for me to sit here and say dont worry as in your shoes i was basically a mess,but in hindsight i guess i worried a little too much ,,fingers crossed for you keep us informed how you go,,
Cal x