Residence visa medical requirements

[genegeney]

Hi everyone,

In the operations manual, A4.10, it states that applicants must have an acceptable standard of health. It goes on to say:

(d) If an immigration officer is not satisfied that an applicant for a residence class visa has an acceptable standard of health, they must refer the matter for assessment to an Immigration New Zealand medical assessor (or the Ministry of Education as appropriate).

(e) Despite (d) above, referral to an Immigration New Zealand medical assessor (or the Ministry of Education) is not required where the applicant is the partner or dependent child of a New Zealand citizen or residence class visa holder, unless the provisions of A4.60(a) or A4.60(b) apply.

Does this mean that, if I include my wife on my residence visa application, her health won't be an issue even if it would normally require referral?

Cheers,

Gene

[genegeney]

Actually - never mind, I found the answer in the ops manual. Separately, though, is there anything stopping me leaving my wife out of my residence application, so that it gets issued quickly as there will be no medical referral needed, and then she can submit her own one separately once mine is approved? I know it'll cost more.

[JandM]

That can give rise to serious problems. An application to INZ is a legal document, and submitting it is warranting that everything in it is the whole truth. If INZ later discover that an applicant has NOT told them the whole picture, this can be interpreted as fraud, and having that on your record can mean any existing visa will be cancelled, and problems applying for any visa for anywhere later. See this recent thread https://www.enz.org/forum/showthread...ht=#post589042, and the link I gave there, for where INZ are following up where the applicant had failed to tell them, just because he thought it would make the case take longer to clear, that he had got married while waiting for his residence to be processed.

[Nzs]

I refer you to R2.40

R2.40 Mandatory requirements for lodging an application for a residence class visa
d.) include all dependants of the principal applicant where they hold or have applied for a temporary entry class visa based on their relationship to the principal applicant;

If your wife is here on a dependent visa, she must be included.

I then refer you to F2.5 e)
Applications for residence under Partnership Category will also be declined if the principal applicant was a partner to the eligible New Zealand partner but not declared on the eligible New Zealand partner’s application for a residence class visa (if applicable), unless an immigration officer is satisfied the non-declaration occurred with:
no intention to mislead; and
would not have resulted in a different outcome in the eligible New Zealand partner’s application.

If you deceive INZ regarding your partner, they may never be eligible for residence.

There are also other health instructions which refer to the fact that if you do not include your wife, and she requires a medical waiver. She would not be granted one if she was left out of your residence application.

If you deceive INZ and they find out about it, it may also put any residence you could be holding in jeopardy and make you liable for deportation.

Families should apply together on the same application as much as possible to avoid any of the potential issues above

[genegeney]

I refer you to R2.40

R2.40 Mandatory requirements for lodging an application for a residence class visa
d.) include all dependants of the principal applicant where they hold or have applied for a temporary entry class visa based on their relationship to the principal applicant;

If your wife is here on a dependent visa, she must be included.

I then refer you to F2.5 e)
Applications for residence under Partnership Category will also be declined if the principal applicant was a partner to the eligible New Zealand partner but not declared on the eligible New Zealand partner’s application for a residence class visa (if applicable), unless an immigration officer is satisfied the non-declaration occurred with:
no intention to mislead; and
would not have resulted in a different outcome in the eligible New Zealand partner’s application.

If you deceive INZ regarding your partner, they may never be eligible for residence.

There are also other health instructions which refer to the fact that if you do not include your wife, and she requires a medical waiver. She would not be granted one if she was left out of your residence application.

If you deceive INZ and they find out about it, it may also put any residence you could be holding in jeopardy and make you liable for deportation.

Families should apply together on the same application as much as possible to avoid any of the potential issues above

Hey - thanks for your reply.

You may have misunderstood my intentions here which are absolutely not to deceive. Ultimately, me and my wife would like to have residents visas in New Zealand. I am aware that my wife is going to be subject to referral to a medical officer despite, when our 5-year work visas were granted, no mention being made of any issue and no referral being required - i.e. she met the acceptable standard of health.

Given the current situation, I am in an anxious position whereby my visa ties me to a specific job and location - a residents visa would not. My wife's work visa does not tie her to any specific job or location. So my thinking was that I would leave her off my application, and clearly explain and declare why that is the case, so as to get my visa issued much quicker. My wife would follow with a separate application that we know will take a lot longer.

My post was to ask if this was acceptable. I guess it isn't, which is a shame. It's a very anxious time for us right now - we moved our whole lives to NZ, our shipping container arrives next week but we likely won't see it now for months. If anything happened with my job, we're in a precarious situation. With a residents visa, I'd be a lot more comfortable as I could find a new job.

Perhaps, though, I've misunderstood the way the temporary visa works. Am I allowed to stay in New Zealand if I lose my job, can support myself in the meantime and am looking for something else? I know I'd then have to apply for a variation of conditions on the visa. My question, therefore, is whether there is any time delay between losing my job and finding another one?

Thanks!

Gene

[MagicPizza]

If your employer is named on your work visa and you are dismissed before the end of the 90-day trial period (applies only to companies with 19 or fewer employees) then you can apply for a dismissed worker visitor visa.

As for the VOC, you will need to find a new job THEN apply for a variation of conditions.

"If you have an Essential Skills Work Visa, and your job is not on a skill shortage list, you can only apply to change your employer.

You need to apply for a new work visa to:

change job
location, or
to change employment to a lower skill-band."

[JandM]

The point everyone is making to you is that the official line for INZ COs to follow is that it's not normal to leave a spouse off an application, so anyone that wants to do so is suspect. This official attitude is linked to the other one requiring very solid proof of partnership, even for long-standing couples, so any hint of non-usual intentions is seen as possibly showing that the partnership is breaking up, and that therefore the secondary partner isn't eligible.

So you see, the replies above aren't doubting you, personally, but warning you that this is the official line.

My feeling is that you will have to take each step as it comes. You can't plan to get ahead of the situation. The government are making up rules for containing the pandemic as they go along, so visas are not a high priority, and INZ is barely functioning.

[genegeney]

The point everyone is making to you is that the official line for INZ COs to follow is that it's not normal to leave a spouse off an application, so anyone that wants to do so is suspect. This official attitude is linked to the other one requiring very solid proof of partnership, even for long-standing couples, so any hint of non-usual intentions is seen as possibly showing that the partnership is breaking up, and that therefore the secondary partner isn't eligible.

So you see, the replies above aren't doubting you, personally, but warning you that this is the official line.

My feeling is that you will have to take each step as it comes. You can't plan to get ahead of the situation. The government are making up rules for containing the pandemic as they go along, so visas are not a high priority, and INZ is barely functioning.

Thank you - I understand and appreciate your time to respond.