Seeking medical clarification from INZ after submission

[letsgo5]

I’m in a bit of a quandary and its causing me quite a lot of worry so hoping somebody can offer a suggestion. I will say that I do tend to worry about things a lot - this application has caused me much stress and unlike many on this forum I am only applying for a temporary Working Holiday Visa!

I’ve applied for a WHV and have done the General Medical. I had a few minor medical things which I discussed with the panel physician and they didn’t think they were relevant to the questions on the medical form or anything I should be concerned about. I don’t know whether they record those discussions anywhere else on the form - I get the impression that the physician wasn't noting it down though and seemed very confident that they were not relevant. Last week I submitted the WHV application itself. When you submit it there are a few quite high level questions about health which I assume is because the online form doesn't know whether you will be doing a General Medical as well.

One of the questions was something along the lines of (and I can’t remember the exact wording) “do you have a condition which requires hospitalisation or may require hospitalisation in future?”. I said no to this as I was reading it as something like bad asthma or a severe allergy. If you weren't also doing the General Medical, it seems like this part of the online form is designed to capture 'big' things.

But now I’m worried that I should have answered this differently. One of the minor conditions I have (I won't actually state it here) was discussed once with my GP when it was diagnosed and we agreed that if it wasn’t bothering me then nothing needed to be done about it unless things changed. I've not spoken to a GP about it since because it still doesn't bother me. However, I've realised that in theory, those circumstances could change and there are instances where such a thing could need surgery i.e. "hospitalisation". So now I am concerned that I should have said yes to this question on the form. It just didn't occur to me, particularly after the medical. And I did mention it to the panel physician, but I don't know whether they recorded that on the form as a record of me being open about it.

I don’t expect the question of hospitalisation is really intended for medical issues like this (and actually, the kind of surgery that would be required if that ever becomes necessary would not be considered 'significant' according to the guidance (INZ1216) for the general medical form). There must be lots of conditions which are stable and then there is an unexpected change which means they have to be dealt with but you wouldn't necessarily spend your life thinking about possible hospitalisation.

What I’d really like to do is phone up and say “hey, I think I might have misinterpreted this question – can I chat to somebody about this and just clarify things before you determine the application?”. But I’m not sure if such a mechanism exists!

On the flip side, it did say that I can’t change the application once its submitted. So I’m concerned that if I attempt to contact INZ now through their general helpline, even though I only submitted the application a few days ago, it’ll get red flagged that I haven’t disclosed everything. I’ve gone through all sorts of spiralling in my mind where the visa gets declined, not for the medical issue as such, but because I should have answered this question differently to start with and then my future travel everywhere will be scuppered because i'll have a black mark against my name! This may be an exaggeration, but its playing on my mind. It also worries me that if the General Medical physician didn't record that I'd mentioned it (I don't know whether they did) then there will be a mismatch between that form and any potential query with INZ.

Does anyone know if there is scope for me to just highlight this potential issue without it setting off all sorts of problems? I feel like I'm stuck in a bit of a catch 22, where I actually want to give INZ more information but am then worried that by trying to do that they will say that my original submission is invalid or ask why it isn't on the General Medical as though I didn't tell the panel physician (which I did!). I'm sure many people wouldn't give this a second thought, but sadly my brain doesn't let me do that.

[JandM]

STOP! You are overthinking everything. It is normal for people to be anxious when they have an application in to INZ, so you are not alone, but you now need to stand aside and let the officials do their job and process your paperwork without wishing you could look over their shoulder and influence the situation.

You have done what you needed to.

Consider this. When the medical is checked, IF the panel physician noted any abnormality, the medical can be referred for checking by an MA (medical assessor), whose job is to understand the applicant's state of health, so IF there is/was felt to be any problem, it would/will be picked up then by an appropriate person with correct expertise. The office workers are not expected to know about medical matters. An MA can ask for clarification or contact with your doctor IF they think it necessary, and pushing more information onto anyone else within the organisation is not appropriate.

You have answered your own question about the matter of potential future hospitalisation - you have already been as honest as the situation requires. Your GP didn't think your condition needs any intervention *at the moment,* and you told the panel doctor. This application is only concerned with the life of the visa, not your possible health issues stretching on years into the future.

It is not possible for you to know what is happening with your application at every step of the way. To try to intervene more, now, would, as you suspect yourself, be likely to raise red flags. Be patient and wait to hear from INZ. If they want anything more from you, they will let you know.