General Medical Certificate

[Kracius]

Kia ora everyone,

It has been a while. It seems I am eligible to apply for the 1rst of December. However, since I have been in NZ for more than 3 years, I am required to send a new General Medical Certificate. I am sending this email from Rotorua and they do not accept appointments because they are busy until February.
Half the country is above level 1 and the majority of the medical centres are not accepting appointments until level 1, which makes it really hard to get your check for Inmigration. What would be the opinion of my future case officer regarding this? Can I still apply for the Residency Visa 2021 even with an expired check?

I have not left the country in all this time, so I do not expect to see my health worsen.

Is anyone in the same situation?

Regards and love for everyone in these difficult times!

[Kelerei]

This question will only be able to be definitively answered when the immigration instructions for the 2021 Resident Visa are published (almost certainly later this month), and not before then. INZ has already stated some leniency around medical certificates, but the full extent of such leniency remains unknown.

[Kelerei]

As it turns out, the new immigration instructions have already been published -- completely missed it.

If you are applying for the 2021 Resident Visa, then:

• you are only required to provide a Limited Medical Certificate (INZ 1201) per A4.20(b)(ii),
• the provisions of A4.20(d) continue to apply, where applicants who have provided a Medical Certificate within the last 36 months and were assessed as having an acceptable standard of health do not need to provide a further Medical Certificate,
• per A4.60(h), if you do not have an acceptable standard of health, you will be automatically granted a medical waiver unless you have a condition listed in A4.20(a).

(Note that the new immigration instructions may not have yet been merged into the operational manual: in the meantime, you can refer to Amendment Circular 2021-48, linked above.)

If you are required to provide a Medical Certificate, your application cannot be lodged without one per R2.40, regardless of whether or not your local medical centres are accepting appointments. You have no choice but to wait until you can obtain the requisite Medical Certificate, and only then lodge your application.

[veelove]

If you're not in lvl3 you could travel elsewhere for the medical check? At least that's an option for you, people in lockdown areas have been unable to get their medicals for months now.