Medicals and XRAYs for Australian Partner Visa applications

A necessary part of applying for an Australian Partner Visa is that the visa applicant passes the “health requirement”. That means all spouse or fiancée visa applicants need to have a Medical examination and a chest xray.

Why do we need a Medical and XRAY exam?

Three reasons:

• Infectious conditions, especially Tuberculosis (TB), which they need to keep out of the country as much as possible.
• Conditions that will cost Australia considerable money in treatment costs in the short, medium and long term
• Conditions that will/could deprive Aussies of medical resources

They need the applicant to be examined to see if they are caught by any of the above factors. I’ve explained this in more detail in a BLOG post before. Click HERE.

Who needs the health examinations?

• For tourist visas, in most cases not required. For longer stays (6 months or more per-stay) or for anyone with a risk factor, they will require a chest xray or possibly a full medical.
• For partner visas and child visas
• The applicant needs a full medical and a chest xray.
• Secondary applicants ie. children: 11 years or older, full medical and chest XRAY. Under 11, full medical only
• Dependent children who are NOT migrating? They require medicals as if they were included. Why? I don’t know……but I don’t make the rules. Must be done.

What do you need to do?

• Firstly, follow the instructions in the document “pdf” that we send out to you. It’s all there.
• Open the attachment with your name on it (eg. marilou hernandez.pdf). This has your HAP ID on it.
• Importantly, please complete the ONLINE HEALTH HISTORY as per the instructions.

Then just follow the other instructions, and go to the clinic nearest to you from the list of approved doctors and clinics, known as “panel doctors”. Why “panel doctors”? No idea! But that’s what they’re called. You cannot attend your own doctor or a clinic closer to you. They do this to maintain the integrity of the program, so that no one slips through the system because a doctor took a bribe!

Attending the clinic

Get there nice and early, and in most cases you will be in and out in a day. Make sure you’ve done the online history, and make sure you bring everything you need.

Do NOT go if you are (a) sick, or (b) having ladies time-of-the-month.

And if you’ve had any serious medical conditions, bring along previous medical reports and/or xrays.

Please note that the medical results will NOT go to you. They will not “let you know” if it’s all OK. They will not be “available in a week”. And they will not “email them to the Embassy”. The clinic staff often prefer to tell you stories to keep you happy than to tell you the truth.

The results go to Canberra, to what they call “Global Health”, which is the section of the Department of Immigration that assesses whether the health criteria has been met or not. Their priority is NOT to fit in with your travel plans, or to be informative. Their priority is to see that the health criteria is met, ie. the “three reasons” above.

What if they find a problem?

This is Philippines. Tuberculosis (TB) is rife. They might find it, and if they find evidence of it they will ask for further xrays and possibly sputum tests. Please read more HERE

Be aware, again, that their priority is not your travel plans or your convenience. There is not a specific safe-time to wait to see if you have the all-clear. They may get back to you requesting further tests in a week (rarely), or it may be over a month. And even if you have a tourist visa granted already, once they suspect TB you will be stopped from boarding the plane.

In most cases? No news. Definitely no updates. For most of our applicants it’s a fairly painless process.