AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

DIAC Changes Re-Use Health Check Policy

Thursday, 22 October 2009

On November 9, 2009, The Department of Immigration & Citizenship (DIAC) will suspend arrangements that allow some visa applicants to re-use previous health examination reports.

Currently, arrangements allow a Form 26 medical examination report obtained for a temporary visa application to be "upgraded" for a permanent health clearance. The new changes will mean that these applicants will need to obtain a full permanent health clearance.

These changes come after DIAC received a number of complaints in regards to the upgrade process. Many applicants and immigration agents complained that where "upgrades" have been requested, they have resulted in processing delays, and in some cases clients have been forced to complete new medical examinations anyway.

While DIAC have reversed these particular arrangements, they have retained a number of other "re-use" arrangements that do appear to be working well:

• Temporary health examination reports which were locally cleared and remain valid can still be re-use for a further temporary visa application.
• The rules surrounding re-use of health clearances also remain the same (e.g. a 457 visa applicant who completed full permanent medicals "upfront" and received a permanent health clearance can "re-use" this clearance for their permanent visa application if it is still valid).

If you are interested in Visas to Australia, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to Australia.