Visa with Diabetes

BlackEdelweiss

I have been offered a job in NZ but I dont know if the fact I have diabetes will prevent me from getting a visa. Has anybody any information on this?
Also do any diabetics down there know anything about the costs of having diabetes in NZ, it is free here, I am sure it is not so down there for new people.

pclancy

You really need proper advice for this, Contact Immigration and maybe also Diabetes New Zealand.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz

http://www.diabetes.org.nz/

nungesser

now granted your going to a different country, but my girlfriend knows somebody that was refused a visa to Australia because they had diabetes, so if I was in your shoes I wouldn't mention it. now I know a bunch of " do gooders" might say something about this but you got to look out for yourself in this world and as I used to say to my friends when we were young and got pulled over by the sheriff in my town " They only know what you tell them"

pclancy

Terrible advice. One thing we never advocate on Boards is not following immigration rules and advice.

How would you regsiter with your local hospital and GP for ongoing Diabetes care if you dont tell them?

Nungesser I feel the same about some things in life that you dont have to tell everyone anything but regarding Immigreation or Health, "Do gooders" are going to offer the correct advice, dont try and screw the system in a new country as when you get caught you'll be out the door.

BlackEdelweiss

This is on the Diabetes NZ web site.

"If you are thinking of emigrating to New Zealand you will have to supply medical details of your state of health. Your details will be assessed by a consultant physician based in New Zealand before you are considered for residency. If you are requiring, at the time of emigration, very extensive and costly medical treatment (such as dialysis) it wnill be more difficult for you to get residency in New Zealand."


It sounds like it would only matter if you were in a really bad way, I thankfully am not, just your run of the mill average diabetes.

I was hoping somebody with diabetes who has gone through the process would have some info.

pclancy

I work in healthcare so I'll try find out some expat info for you.

nungesser

pclancy wrote: »

Terrible advice. One thing we never advocate on Boards is not following immigration rules and advice.

How would you regsiter with your local hospital and GP for ongoing Diabetes care if you dont tell them?

Nungesser I feel the same about some things in life that you dont have to tell everyone anything but regarding Immigreation or Health, "Do gooders" are going to offer the correct advice, dont try and screw the system in a new country as when you get caught you'll be out the door.

we'll they have not thrown me out yet. And being a "do gooder" has nothing to do with correct or good advice.

TrueDub

nungesser wrote: »

we'll they have not thrown me out yet. And being a "do gooder" has nothing to do with correct or good advice.

Telling people to not follow the law (or procedure in this case) is not good advice, and is not advocated on this or any other forum on Boards.

pclancy

Sorry for the delay, they basically referred me to this website with the page for overseas visitors having some basic information on costs. Immigration will have you assessed by a local doctor who would make a decision to grant a visa/permit or not...

http://www.diabetes.org.nz/about_diabetes/information_for_visitors_and_immigrants_to_new_zealand

Rua1

Hi,

I saw this thread, and thought I'd comment with what I know.
Basically if you have a residency visa, although I think a 2 year work visa would also allow you subsidised access to the public health system, then some diabetes meters, strips and insulin are subsidised. My young nephew who lives there is type 1, and his meds are free for him, although that may be because he's under the age of 6.

On another note, the NZ government have withdrawn funding for all but a few diabetes meters, so you might find that your meter isn't subsidised. I think it might be the caresens they are funding, along with 2 others. There has been plenty in the NZ media about this recently, so a google search should bring up more results (http://www.pharmacytoday.co.nz/news/2012/august-2012/08/pharmac-to-fund-caresens-meters.aspx)

All the best. I doubt they'd refuse a visa for having diabetes.

MrCreosote

Good advice here, apart from the one saying not to mention it. That's fraud, and your visa could be revoked if it transpired you lied on the application. The culture of cute-hoor gombeenism hasn't really caught on in NZ

Basically immigration look at any medical condition- if the likely cost of treating it exceeds the likely benefit to the country (financially) of allowing someone in, then the visa would be refused. So theoretically you could get in with any medical condition, it's just that the bar would be set higher for some than others. Same thing applies to age and occupation of course.

So if you're a young person with well controlled diabetes, and no complications, you should be fine. If you're older, and have say eye or kidney complications, then it would be much harder to get in. A shorter visa would be easier to get than residency, and so on. I've met plenty of people who've gained residency in NZ who have diabetes. The immigration guys might ask for more information before granting a visa too, like an eye screen or specialist letter to say all is well.

Once you get in on a two-year or more visa, or residency, you get publically funded care. Funded medications have a nominal charge ($5 per item per 3 months), specialists in public system (much more available than Ireland) are free, GP consultation is partly funded and usually comes to about $30-$45 depending on where you're based.

The funding of drugs can be a bit of a minefield, previously some insulins were very hard to get funded (like Lantus), but it's now much easier. But as someone mentioned there's now only one funded meter,so you might have to change. But that one and test strips are the usual $5 on prescription.

Anyway hope that helps a bit. (maybe you've already got the visa!)