Who needs an X-ray or medical examination

To get a New Zealand visa, applicants must be in good health. 

To show us that you have an acceptable standard of health, you may need to have a medical examination, chest X-ray or both. If you do, you will need to include a medical certificate or an eMedical reference number in your application. 

Why you need to provide evidence of your good health

How to get an X-ray or medical examination

Types of medical certificate

There are 3 types of medical certificate:

• general medical certificate
• limited medical certificate
• chest X-ray certificate.

What you need to provide depends on the type of visa you are applying for, how long you intend to stay in New Zealand, what country you are from, and whether you have provided a medical certificate to us with an earlier application.

Children under 11 years of age and pregnant women do not need to have a chest X-ray unless a special report is needed.

If you will be staying between 6 and 12 months

If you will be staying in New Zealand between 6 and 12 months, you must have a chest X-ray if:

• you are a citizen of a country that does not have a low incidence of tuberculosis (TB), or
• you have spent more than 3 months in the past 5 years in a country that does not have a low incidence of TB, or
• since you last had an X-ray, you have spent more than 6 months in a row in a country that does not have a low incidence of TB. 

Countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis

If you will be staying for more than 12 months

If you will be staying for more than 12 months, you must have a chest X-ray no matter where you are from.

If you apply for another visa while in New Zealand, the time you have already spent here counts towards the 12 months.

Different rules apply if you are:

• applying for a student visa
• a claimant for refugee or protected person status applying for a temporary visa.

Information for asylum seekers

If you are applying to stay in New Zealand permanently

If you are applying to stay in New Zealand permanently, and do not already have a resident visa, you must have a chest X-ray no matter where you are from.

If you are applying for a student visa

You do not need to get a chest X-ray if you are applying for a student visa and staying for less than 6 months.

You must have a chest X-ray if you are applying for a student visa and:

• staying for 6 months or more and you:
  • are from a country that does not have a low incidence of TB, or
  • have spent more than 3 months in the last 5 years in a country that does not have a low incidence of TB.
• staying for 12 months or more and you are applying for a student visa to be a PhD, MFAT-funded scholarship or exchange student.

Foreign fee-paying students

You do not need to get a chest X-ray if you are staying for more than 6 months as a foreign fee-paying student, and you are:

• from a country with a low incidence of TB, and
• in the past 5 years you have not spent more than 3 months in a country that does not have a low incidence of TB. 

Fee Paying Student Visa

If you are applying for a Recognised Seasonal Employer Limited Visa

You do not need to provide a chest X-ray certificate if you are:

• from a country with a low incidence of tuberculosis (TB), such as Samoa, Tonga or Vanuatu 
• staying in New Zealand for 12 months or less.

If you are from a country that does not have a low incidence of TB, you must have a chest X-ray no matter how long you will stay in New Zealand.

If you had a chest X-ray for an earlier visa application

You must send us another X-ray if:

• it has been more than 3 years since you had the last one, or
• since you last had an X-ray, you have spent more than 6 months in a row in a country that does not have a low incidence of TB.

You do not need to send us another chest X-ray if you provided a chest X-ray with an earlier visa application and you are applying for a visa on or after 5 August 2021 based on your relationship to an existing Essential Skills Work Visa holder (that is, you are their partner or dependent child).

Once you have made your application, we may come back to you and ask for medical documents.

If you have already obtained an X-ray certificate for your visa application, you can choose to still submit it.

If you are applying for a Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa

If you are applying for a Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa, you must provide a chest X-ray certificate with your application. 

Find out if you need to include a medical certificate with your application.

If you will be staying up to 12 months

If you will stay in New Zealand for up to 12 months, you normally do not need to have a medical examination unless the visa you apply for will allow you to stay for more than 12 months, or we ask you to have one.

If you will be staying for more than 12 months

You must have a medical examination if you will stay in New Zealand for more than 12 months.

If you are already in New Zealand, the time you have already spent here will count towards the 12 months.

There are different rules when applying for a student visa.

If you are applying to stay in New Zealand permanently

If you are applying to stay in New Zealand permanently, and do not already have a resident visa, you must have a medical examination no matter where you are from.

If you are applying for a student visa

If you stay for more than 12 months, you must have a medical examination if you:

• are applying for a student visa to be a PhD, MFAT-funded scholarship or exchange student
• have used intravenous drugs
• have had a blood transfusion
• have participated in or been exposed to any activity which may have exposed you to a serious infectious disease, such as HIV, or Hepatitis B or C.

If you are applying for a Fee-Paying Student Visa or Pathway Student Visa, you do not need to have a medical examination, no matter how long you are staying in New Zealand, unless:

•  you have used intravenous drugs
• you have had a blood transfusion
• you have participated in or been exposed to any activity which may have exposed you to a serious infectious disease, such as HIV, or Hepatitis B or C
• we ask you to have one.

If you had a medical examination for an earlier visa application

Even if you had a medical examination with an earlier visa application, you need to have another medical examination if:

• it has been more than 3 years since you had the last one
• your standard of health was not assessed as acceptable at the time
• we need a different kind of medical certificate from the one you provided.

You do not need to send us another medical examination if you provided a medical examination with an earlier visa application and you are applying for a visa on or after 5 August 2021, based on your relationship to an existing Essential Skills Work Visa holder (that is, you are their partner or dependent child).

Once you have made your application, we may come back to you and ask for medical documents if these are required to process your application.

If you have already obtained a medical certificate for your visa application, you can choose to still submit it. 

If you are a woman over 45

If you are a woman over 45 you may need to have a physical breast examination. Your physician will tell you if you need one.

If you are applying for a Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa

If you are applying for a Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa, you must provide a general medical certificate and chest X-ray certificate.

If you need to have a medical examination or a chest X-ray, you must use a and tell them what type of visa you are applying for.

Panel physicians are doctors and radiologists who are approved to complete medical examinations and chest X-rays for New Zealand visa applications.

Doctors who can do X-rays and medical examinations