Hi there, am wondering if anyone knows the answer to the following: would a recovering alcoholic (7 years and no drink) be considered when applying to emigrate to New Zealand from the UK or would it be a non-starter?
Many thanks
Hi there, am wondering if anyone knows the answer to the following: would a recovering alcoholic (7 years and no drink) be considered when applying to emigrate to New Zealand from the UK or would it be a non-starter?
Many thanks
Hello and welcome.
Everyone applying to emigrate has to pass a medical. The bottom line is whether the candidate is likely on present showing to cost the NZ health service more than $25,000. Any finding that the examining doctor flags as abnormal is automatically referred to a Medical Assessor, who can call for extra examinations and/or reports. If your general health is good, which your own GP could presumably testify to, then you should be able to pass.
You will see from this page that there is no automatic bar involving former addiction. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ See under Administration, A4.10
I was never asked about my previous drinking behaviour at my medical or as far as I remember at anytime during the application process. If you have any liver damage as a consequence, this would show up in a blood test and then they would probably want more information about alcohol use. If you look back through the old posts on liver function tests, you will find that quite a few people have encountered problems (not all because of alcohol) but often a few weeks without a drink has been enough to lower their levels enough to pass the medical. Of course it does also depend on your medical history, if you have a long list of inpatient detoxes or a chronic alcohol related illness then that will show up and you will need to discuss it. In the end it all comes down to money, whether or not you are likely to become a burden on the NZ health service. Seven years is a long time, congratulations! If they were to keep out anybody that has misused alcohol for a period of time in their lives there would be a lot less of us here now! The human body is a remarkable thing, it's quite likely that your body has recovered from the abuse and you will be fine. Good luck
Medical and Chest X-ray - Certificate here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rd...vember2010.pdf
Questions B7 - B9 dealing with nicotine, alcohol and drugs; B8 (alc) asks only about the presence. So as ShineyPeople pointed out it comes down to any medical consequences...
It's my o/half, and yes he's done really well, sorted himself out and even got himself an honours degree so on present 'behaviour (!)' he is absolutely fine. He wasn't sure whether to mention it if we get as far as a medical but my feeling is to be honest, he has been in hospital a couple of times and in rehabilitation, 7 years ago but as I say, on present showing he is fine. He doesn't suffer from any liver problems thankfully.
Thanks to everyone for their help - much appreciated!