Hey guys,

My situation is that I have a signed job contract, as a structural engineer (which is in one of the shortage lists), here in Wellington. As soon as my police certificate comes in, I will be submitting for a work permit under the talent (accredited employer) work permit scheme, which I'm told is the fastest and easiest option for someone in my position - should take 5-10 business days.

I just got my blood tests back to complete my immigration medical form. I have a clean bill of health: blood pressure is normal, BMI is in normal range, I don't smoke, or drink heavily, no diseases or family history of diseases or conditions, urinalysis and x-ray are fine, vision ok, etc. The doctor hasn't noted anything outside the standard checkboxes on the forms, except for a few abnormalities in my blood count and liver function tests.

I have 5 minor abnormalities:

MCV at 79.2 (80-98 normal)
MCH at 26.2 (27-33 normal)
Eosinophils at 0.6 (0.0-0.5 normal)
ALT at 44 (0-40 normal)
AST at 38 (0-35 normal)

As you can see, all the abnormal results are just barely out of the normal range. I spoke with my doctor, and he told me that for each of these results, there's no explanation and that often people have results like these and it really means nothing. Not indicative of any condition or problem. He noted in the summary comments, "Minor abnormalities noted on full blood count and liver function tests, no obvious reason apparent clinically," and he checked the box in the Recommendation section "Significant or abnormal findings," and wrote "minor" next to it. He also told me that it depends on who reviews the form as to if they send me to a medical assessor or not.

Has anyone here had a similar experience? On the one hand, I'm in the country and have a signed job contract with an accredited employer in a shortage field, so I'd think they'd be motivated to push me through. On the other hand, I know this is immigration, and I've read plenty of horror stories on this site. Help!