medical refusals for children with autistic tendancies on the autistic spectrum

[Guest leighanna]

hi everyone,

Please could any one answer a question i have ....... i am in the middle of discussions with a migration agent (the emmigration group, based in uk) and everything has been going great untill the mention of my son's condition. He has autistic tendancies on the autistic spectrum disorder, he needs no medication and receives no medical help with his condition , he does receive funding for support staffing at a main stream school but only receives 50% support and this is about to be reviewed as he is about to start secondary school so hopefully this will be reduced.

The emmigration group has responded to this by sending a letter saying that i should get a medical opinion ....quote(unfortunately your son's medical situation could have an adverse effect on a migration application -we have noticed in the last few months that australia and new zealand medical authorities are declining applications at lower levels of the autism spectrum than previously. Professional advice in this area is available from Dr . Baz at www.visamedicalopinion.com I understand that she charges around £400 etc.)

My question is... does this sound like a con to anyone else as i would only be paying for an opinion not a medical and is this statement true as from what i have read on this subject it depends on each individual case etc. ?????

Any information on this subject would be gratefully accepted :confused:

[Guest SO,DIZZY]

I have a son who has aspergers and we did not get any outside evaluations done we did however have college reports school etc and child phsycology reports done but were not charged for this.. however my son is now 16 im not sure what the advice of an independant doctor who has no knowledge of your particular situation could bring to bare..... im sure if you need to submit any of relevant medical information regarding your son youl have plenty at hand.. sounds like the agent will only take your case if you are a sure thing and he wants you to pay to find out if he will make a fee out of you... regards dizz...

[Guest leighanna]

thanks dizzy i find it so difficult to trust people who ask for money at every opportunity perhaps they are only acting on our behalf only time will tell but thanks for the info

[melbournegirlinny]

Hi Leighanna.

 

I will send you a PM on these questions in a few minutes.

[Guest leighanna]

thanks melbournegirlinny, any info would be great.

regards leighanna

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Leighanna

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

On here recently, two of our members have almost had their visas refused on medical grounds.

 

One of them is OK - their visa was granted yesterday after a nail-biting 8 weeks of uncertainty because they came within an ace of receiving a visa refusal. Their child has Asperger's.

 

The other one I don't know about as yet. The child has a condition called Fragile X. Again, they are within an ace of receiving a formal visa refusal but it has taken time to collate additional medical and other reports from various experts. Those will all be sent to Australia on Monday or Tuesday and it will probably be a couple of months before the family will know whether or not the MOC has changed his opinion.

 

In both cases the formal Opinion provided by the MOC (Medical Officer of the Commonwealth) initially was/is that the child did/does not meet the medical criteria for permanent migration to Oz. Having seen the additional medical and other evidence in both cases, the first child was OK in the end and I think the second one will be but only the MOC is empowered by law to say and plainly I am not the MOC.

 

I don't think that either of these two families came to the brink of disaster because the MOC is suddenly being more stringent. There is no evidence for that proposition. What is known for sure is that in both cases the agents involved failed to advise their clients adequately or at all. Had the agents done their own part of the work competently and diligently, I doubt that the MOC would have returned a negative result about either of the children in the first place.

 

The first agent is not MARA registered. The second one is.

 

In your case, how far have matters proceeded? Are you still at the preliminary stage of discussing your eligibility to migrate? Have you paid the agents any money? If so, what is the money back offer if you decide not to go any further in view of the potential medical problem about which your agents have now advised you? It is normal practice (and common decency) for the agent to return all moneys paid if, on reflection, his/her clients decide not to proceeed with the application for fear of a visa refusal on medical grounds at the end of the day.

 

In your shoes, in the light of the advice which your agents have now provided, you might well want to pull out of the whole thing. You might decide, too, that in view of the advice you have received you would prefer to instruct an Accredited Specialist in Australian Immigration Law to handle any application you might choose to make. Peter Bollard is the man who is normally recommended in a situation like yours because he lectures MARA-registered migration agents about the workings of the health requirement as part of the Continous Professional Development which they are now required to undergo each year. Unregistered agents are under no compulsion to undertake CPD. Peter Bollard's website is here:

 

Peter Bollard & Associates

 

Nigel Dobbie also does a fair few cases involving applicants where the meds could be a problem:

 

Dobbie and Devine Immigration Lawyers Pty Ltd

 

I had Nigel Dobbie on standby during my disabled mother's application for a Contributory Parent visa 3 years ago, in case the visa might be refused on medical grounds, necessitating an appeal to the Migration Review Tribunal. Not all visas carry a right of appeal to the MRT (in which you can insist that the Review Medical Officer of the Commonwealth reconsiders the medical information from scratch.) However the time limit for lodging an appeal to the MRT is very short - I think you only get 28 days from the date of the visa refusal. Hence I wanted Nigel Dobbie ready in the wings in case we needed to ask him to swing into action at very short notice. In the end it was not necessary because Mum was OK on her meds but I breathed more easily knowing that we had a genuine expert on hand - one of the top 15 in this field in Australia according to a recent review:

 

Best Migration Lawyers announced in the Australian Financial Review

 

Not all visas carry a right of appeal to the MRT, though, and one of THE most important aspects of the whole thing when the meds are or could be in doubt is to ensure that the pros, cons and appeal rights with all the possible visa options have been explained to the client fully and in writing. Have your agents done that? If not, they may consider that they lack the expertise to be able to advise you properly so they may wish to return your money and recommend that you should consult one of the Accredited Specialists instead, I would think.

 

Again, Nigel Dobbie teaches some of the CPD for MARA registered agents and he also teaches the compulsory training course for aspiring MARA registered migration agents on behalf of the Australian National University in Canberra.

 

Maria Jockel in Melbourne is rumoured to have acted for Dr Moeller recently (but I do not know whether she did - it is simply something that a client of hers told me.)

 

http://www.rk.com.au/uploads/File/Professional%20Profile%20Maria%20Jockel%202008.pdf

 

Again, Mrs Jockel has very convincing credentials and was undoubtedly one of the main movers & shakers in the new State Waivers of the migration health critieria, which has been a hot topic ever since Dr Moeller's case last November. Again, have your agents advised you about the possibility of relying on the new State Waiver, how it works, which States participate in this brand new scheme and so forth? They should have done so, again in writing.

 

Therefore as you can see there is MASSES more to doing this properly than merely suggesting asking Dr Baz what she thinks about the medical situation alone. Dr Baz is not competent to suggest which visa(s) ought to be considered or which one should be applied for, after all.

 

According to Google, Durham is 160 miles from Glasgow. Why are your agents suggesting asking a doctor 10,000 miles away who will not get a chance to examine your child in the flesh when they could be suggesting asking Dr Helen Bryden who is only a 3 hour drive away from you and could easily find time to examine your child and then advise you about what sorts of reports to obtain and so forth?

 

Bryden Medical Ltd

 

Dr Baz is not one of the DIAC Panel Doctors authorised to examine prospective visa applicants. Dr Bryden is so you could use her for your visa meds if you decide to proceed to apply as well as asking her for preliminary advice if you wish. Dr Bryden used to be one of DIAC's overseas MOC doctors in the UK before the the meds all became centralised in Sydney instead. She has hands on experience of having to make the decisions and advise the Minister about applicants such as your child. She only ceased in that role when meds processing was all transferred to Sydney.

 

However I think that at this stage, more information from you would be useful, please. Your user profile describes you as a "carer." That occupation is not on the SOL What does your OH do, please? Also do you have a wish to migrate to a particular State? If so, which one please and why? I never think there is much point in suggesting West Australia to somebody with close family in Queensland, hence my question!

 

Additionally, how old is your OH please and what sort of formal qualifications (academic or trade) does he hold, please?

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[melbournegirlinny]

Thanks Gill. I copied you on some PMs I sent to this poster and you might want to check your messages there too. I will see if you were copied on the replies from the poster.