Medical issue - hearing disability

[celeliza]

Hi,

I am hoping to apply for a work permit under partnership now I have been in a relationship with my kiwi boyfriend for a year and only recently just moved in with him. I have been in NZ for over a year now.

I know medicals and police certificate are needed. I have a disability – profound hearing loss since birth and in 2008, I had a cochlear implant in one ear which has made a big improvement. I just get that feeling that I will be referred to the Medical Assessor. Has anyone been through this similar situation for this kind of disability? How long was the waiting before getting approved?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Claire

[sophiedb]

hi Claire,

I'm pretty sure you'll be referred to the MA too, though I'm not sure what sort of questions they'd ask. It can be a long and frustrating process though, the MAs do seem to take their time *hug* I don't know whether it's different when applying for a work permit rather than residence though..

An ex-colleague whose not on this forum recently emigrated to NZ, I can't remember the details but one of her sons had hearing loss too (due to an infection as a baby, I think). Would you like me to forward this to her to see if she has any info that might help?

[celeliza]

Hi Sophie,

I am also about to submit my ITA permanent residency after I have my medicals done tomorrow. Then that medical certificate can also be used when I apply for work permit under partnership.

Since I have heard it can be a long process, I thought I should start applying very soon to allow the time for Medical Assessors to do their bit before my contract finishes in February. When I applied my WHV back in the UK, I had to do a medical then it was referred to the MA and it took just over 3 months to be granted the visa.

Yeah, that would be great if you would forward the message to someone whose son had a hearing loss. It would help to know what they went through and get some more info etc.

I see that you are from Poole. I'm orginally from Salisbury and my Dad lives in Poole too! Where in NZ are you planning to move?

Cheers,
Claire

[Mamee & Co]

Hi Claire

My son has a unilateral maximum conductive loss due to having microtia and aural atresia of his right ear. In simple terms he has no right ear.

It is a congenital defect and at the time we applied he was having no assistance other than a sound field system in the classroom. We had to provide a letter from his consultant as to prognosis, likely treatment etc. At that stage (and now) L had no desire for surgery for ear reconstruction or BAHA and the consultant just wrote a letter explaining no likely costs until far into the future as L was not interested in surgery etc. so conservative management was being undertaken. (In effect a watch and review).

We had one round with the MA and the medical was cleared.

[sophiedb]

Done

I see that you are from Poole. I'm orginally from Salisbury and my Dad lives in Poole too! Where in NZ are you planning to move?

LOL we keep finding more Dorset-ish people this week - in case you're interested, I just started a thread on the meet-up board

We're planning to move to Christchurch, as most of hubby's family live there now. He was born in Mosgiel and grew up in Whangarei though.

[XonXoff]

hi Claire,

I'm pretty sure you'll be referred to the MA too, though I'm not sure what sort of questions they'd ask. It can be a long and frustrating process though, the MAs do seem to take their time *hug* I don't know whether it's different when applying for a work permit rather than residence though..

An ex-colleague whose not on this forum recently emigrated to NZ, I can't remember the details but one of her sons had hearing loss too (due to an infection as a baby, I think). Would you like me to forward this to her to see if she has any info that might help?

Hi there, I am that ex colleague (using my husbands login!)
One of our sons is also deaf in one ear, and we had to go through the medical assessor to establish the extent of his hearing loss and if he would require future treatment on his ear.

We had to provide a letter from his consultant (ear nose and throat) stating the extent of his hearing loss, in his case, details of his surgery and current medical status. This process took some time as several iterations were required.

The MA kept asking questions which we then had to then communicate back to the consultant. Obviously we didnt understand the details of the medical terms, and we also realised that the MA was not an ENT consutant!!

So if you have to go down this route, be patient, relay questions to your doctor/consultant exactly as they are asked so there is no confusion, and just wait. It seems that the medical part of the immigration process is very near the end.

Once the MA was happy with our consultant's responses everything moved quickly from there.

Hope this helps.

By the way, I am writing this from NZ!!!

[sophiedb]

Thanks Alison!!

[celeliza]

Hi Mamee & Co and XonXoff,

Thanks for sharing with me your experiences.

I had my review back in May at the University of Auckland and I have the report so will use that as a recent progress. I had my cochlear implant done back in the UK so chances are I will have to contact them as they have my file.

All patients who are on the NZ cochlear implant program have to pay for review consultation and they have been told to pay the assessories if the implant breaks down and need to repair.

Also, I don't rely on services like disability or interpreting services as oral english is my main language and with the CI, I can hear MUCH better.

We will see happens and I will keep you posted.

Cheers,
Claire