Where is everyone off to Sender: stephanie981Hi, I've been a bit of a lurker on here, only posting a few times but it's been so encouraging seeing other people getting their visas as well as reading other people's posts and seeing...
Hi Cauldrick
You will have to tell the Panel Doctor about your epilepsy, and unlessyou can produce a recent report from your specialist, DIMA might insistthat you get one before they will make a final decision about you onmedical grounds.
There is said to be a "rule of thumb" in which if your medicalcondition is unlikely to cost more than $20,000 or so to deal withduring your first 3-5 years in Australia, you would almost certainly beOK on your meds. However, the cost is not the cost of pills, specialistdoctor involvement etc on its own. They also take into account theapplicant's fitness to work and to be self-supporting financially. Thepresumption is that if an applicant is granted PR, then that applicantpotentially has a right to claim the whole range of State Benefits thatan Australian citizen living in Australia would be able to claim. Obviously, if State Benefits enter the costs-equation, they can raisethe cost-factor exponentially, even though the cost of the actualmedication required might be trifling.
The chances are that the Panel Doctor would tick Box B on your medicalform, but that does NOT mean that you would not be successful. Theonly effect of the PD ticking Box B is that your medical file would besent to the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth for an opinion aboutwhether you satisfy the health criteria or not. If Box A has beenticked, the medical file is not referred to the Medical Officer for anopinion.
Have a look at this link, I suggest:
If you search for Epilepsy + 4005, and you tell the machine to searchin the Full Court, the Federal Court and the Migration Review Tribunalcases, you can read about many cases where the applicant has hadepilepsy. I've had a quick look, and believe me, you do NOT sound sickto me compared to some of those unfortunate souls!
For specialist advice about what type of visa it is best to apply forif one has a known medical condition that could cause a problem, PeterBollard and Mark Webster are said to be the gurus in this specialisedarea of work. If you tell any search engine their names + migrationagent, the links will come up. The reason why you might have toconsider what type of visa to apply for is because some of them allowan appeal to the MRT, which is fairly informal and relativelyinexpensive. Others do not permit an appeal except to the Court. Also, it is possible to ask for a Review Medical Officer of theCommonwealth to give a second opinion about the condition to the MRT,but that is not possible in an appeal to the Court. The RMOC hasoverturned the original MOC's opinion in more cases than I would haveexpected to find.
Help With BOND Sender: popeyeHiya angel only just seen this post, but seen you have sorted it now. would just to add its not a hard process to go...
However, if your condition is only very mild, and really has no impacton your likely ability to work now or in the future, it is veryunlikely that you would run into any real problems. The worry islikely to make you much more unwell than your epilepsy would, I cantell you, from personal experience!!
Good luck, and please feel free to e-mail or PM me if I can buttistfurther. I am not a doctor or nurse, and I have no involvement withDIMA. I've merely had to help a family member with the procedural andpractical side of the meds hurdle very rcently. But if you feel I canhelp, I'll do my best.
Good luck again
