2016-Apr 29: Reminder on Medical Referrals

Visa Pak 257 - Advice for staff about time taken, when and how soon can medicals be referred to Medical assessor.

Visa Paks

29 April 2016 

Reminder on Medical Referrals

The Health Assessment Team (HAT) has recently received feedback from visa applicants and Licensed Immigration Advisors that there is inconsistency within Immigration New Zealand (INZ) offices in respect of the timeframe for medical certificates to be referred to a Medical Assessor (MA).

If a submitted medical certificate does not auto clear through the Immigration Health System, the HAT manually assesses each certificate. This is done within 3-5 working days of the medical being submitted.

Medical certificates can only be referred and assessed by an MA when a visa application has been accepted, as the assessment is made based under temporary, resident or limited certificate guidelines.

A medical certificate without a visa application that requires referral to an MA will remain unassigned until the HAT is notified of the visa application being accepted. This notification can be done by anyone and the sooner the HAT is aware of an application, the sooner the referral process can start.

Action

Please discuss with your team(s) and ensure the HAT is notified as soon as possible when a visa application is accepted, either through your lodgement teams or when triaging applications. Please do not wait for the application to be allocated to an immigration officer as allocation times may vary from office to office.