Australia Health Waiver - Evidencing

[bureaucrazy]

So I've applied for a partner visa for Australia for the little lady, she has failed the health criteria and now we need to apply for a health waiver. We always knew that this was going to happen so this certainly doesn't come as a suprise and I think we have the situation fairly well in hand.

Basically the dept of immigration / border farce has to make a cost / benefit analysis of the cost of granting a health waiver vs not granting it. Given that I'm an Australian citizen, they have to consider the negative impact to me, if the waiver is not granted. The assumption is that if the waiver is not granted I would relocate to thailand so that I could be closer to my beloved.

Soo.. in Australia I have a Bachelor of Finance, am a registered tax agent, and have a relevant full time job. Clearly, if I were to relocate to thailand my job prospects would plummet.. the question is, whether there is any way I can evidence that.

So the surrounding facts are:

* I don't speak Thai
* My qualifications are not useful in Thailand
* It's very difficult to get an appropriate visa to work in Thailand
* Even if I can work, my salary would be significantly less than what I earn in Australia.

Even though this stuff is pretty obvious, the health waiver process is one of those bureaucratic situations in which you want to sink them with an overwhelming volume of proof to back up your assertions.

I've made a few enquiries on this front but I'm pretty stuck.. A letter from someone in a related field in Thailand would be nice but as I'm sure you know Thais are extremely reluctant with the letter writing thing.

Thanks for any thoughts or advice you might have.

[Larz2013]

Id be getting an agent to help you out...

The aus immigration doesnt care how it affects you/your job prospects if you dont get the waiver.

[Supaluke]

Basically the dept of immigration / border farce has to make a cost / benefit analysis of the cost of granting a health waiver vs not granting it.

Link?

[simple1]

Basically the dept of immigration / border farce has to make a cost / benefit analysis of the cost of granting a health waiver vs not granting it.

Link?

Examples:

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/Heal/meeting-the-health-requirement/health-waivers

http://www.beyderwellen.com/immigration-practice-areas/health.htm

[bureaucrazy]

Id be getting an agent to help you out...

The aus immigration doesnt care how it affects you/your job prospects if you dont get the waiver.

Basically the dept of immigration / border farce has to make a cost / benefit analysis of the cost of granting a health waiver vs not granting it.

Link?

@Larz2013 : demonstrably incorrect sorry.. I've sought advice from several lawyers specialising in immigration law, and I work in a semi related field.

@Larz2013 & @Supaluke

There's a litany of matters heard by the MRTA / AAT, but to pick a few:

• Dougal
• Abcdeav

If you're interested in the legislation, you're looking for public interest criteria 4007 s2 provides:

             (2)  The Minister may waive the requirements of paragraph (1)(c) if:
                     (a)  the applicant satisfies all other criteria for the grant of the visa applied for; and
                     (  the Minister is satisfied that the granting of the visa would be unlikely to result in:
                              (i)  undue cost to the Australian community; or
                             (ii)  undue prejudice to the access to health care or community services of an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

2bi is the relevant clause.. that's the cost / benefit part - they need to examine the cost of approving the waiver vs that of not approving. The proposition being that I will move to Thailand if the waiver is not granted.

Also the departments Procedures Advice Manual, which I can't link because it's not available online, runs thusly:

Other factors
Other factors that should be taken into account include (but are not limited to):
* the education and occupational needs of, and prospects for, the applicant in Australia over the whole period of intended stay;
* the potential for the applicant's state of health to deteriorate, taking into account not only the known medical factors but also influences such as the strains of adjusting to a new environment, life-style, occupation etc (as applicable to the visa class and the individual);
* the overall lifetime (or lesser period according to the intended length of stay) charge to Australian public funds;
* factors preventing the sponsor from joining the applicant in the applicant's own country;
* whether there are Australian children of the relationship who would be adversely affected by a decision not to waive;
* the location and circumstances of family members of the applicant and the sponsor;
* the merits of the case eg the strength of any humanitarian or compassionate factors (reasonable weight is to be given to humanitarian circumstances).
* the immigration history of the applicant and sponsor, including eg compliance to date with immigration requirements and any undertakings.

Item 4 being the relevant one. Generally sponsors in my position refer to the limited availability of health care, the limited employment prospects, and the difficulties in naturalisation.

Some other stuff you should probably check: Dunning Kruger Effect

[Larz2013]

Id be getting an agent to help you out...

The aus immigration doesnt care how it affects you/your job prospects if you dont get the waiver.

Basically the dept of immigration / border farce has to make a cost / benefit analysis of the cost of granting a health waiver vs not granting it.

Link?

@Larz2013 : demonstrably incorrect sorry.. I've sought advice from several lawyers specialising in immigration law, and I work in a semi related field.

@Larz2013 & @Supaluke

There's a litany of matters heard by the MRTA / AAT, but to pick a few:

• Dougal
• Abcdeav

If you're interested in the legislation, you're looking for public interest criteria 4007 s2 provides:

             (2)  The Minister may waive the requirements of paragraph (1)(c) if:
                     (a)  the applicant satisfies all other criteria for the grant of the visa applied for; and
                     (  the Minister is satisfied that the granting of the visa would be unlikely to result in:
                              (i)  undue cost to the Australian community; or
                             (ii)  undue prejudice to the access to health care or community services of an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

2bi is the relevant clause.. that's the cost / benefit part - they need to examine the cost of approving the waiver vs that of not approving. The proposition being that I will move to Thailand if the waiver is not granted.

Also the departments Procedures Advice Manual, which I can't link because it's not available online, runs thusly:

Other factors
Other factors that should be taken into account include (but are not limited to):
* the education and occupational needs of, and prospects for, the applicant in Australia over the whole period of intended stay;
* the potential for the applicant's state of health to deteriorate, taking into account not only the known medical factors but also influences such as the strains of adjusting to a new environment, life-style, occupation etc (as applicable to the visa class and the individual);
* the overall lifetime (or lesser period according to the intended length of stay) charge to Australian public funds;
* factors preventing the sponsor from joining the applicant in the applicant's own country;
* whether there are Australian children of the relationship who would be adversely affected by a decision not to waive;
* the location and circumstances of family members of the applicant and the sponsor;
* the merits of the case eg the strength of any humanitarian or compassionate factors (reasonable weight is to be given to humanitarian circumstances).
* the immigration history of the applicant and sponsor, including eg compliance to date with immigration requirements and any undertakings.

Item 4 being the relevant one. Generally sponsors in my position refer to the limited availability of health care, the limited employment prospects, and the difficulties in naturalisation.

Some other stuff you should probably check: Dunning Kruger Effect

not sure why you are asking for help when you seem to know it all then.

[bureaucrazy]

not sure why you are asking for help when you seem to know it all then.

I wasn't asking for help figuring out my situation, my post was asking for ideas about evidencing the difficulties in my relocating to Thailand.

[simple1]

not sure why you are asking for help when you seem to know it all then.

I wasn't asking for help figuring out my situation, my post was asking for ideas about evidencing the difficulties in my relocating to Thailand.

There are a number of head hunting companies in BKK whose services include placing

Westerners; why not contact a few of them with your CV / profile and ask for email

response of likelihood of a placement in Thailand. Can also take a look at the

Thai Oz FTA that talks to professions available to Oz citizens in Thailand under the agreement

Edited November 24, 2015 by simple1

[Will27]

not sure why you are asking for help when you seem to know it all then.

I wasn't asking for help figuring out my situation, my post was asking for ideas about evidencing the difficulties in my relocating to Thailand.

I don't think there is much more you can provide as far as relocating to Thailand.

At the the end of the day, I expect a decision will be made purely on the cost factor.

I think any compassionate and compelling grounds will be secondary.

What amount has been advised by the MOC for ongoing health care?

Would really be surprised if a waiver was given. It's much easier for the case officer to go with

the MOC and leave it up to you to take it to the MRT.

To a degree, highlighting other MRT cases is futile due to the different circumstances, time factors,

different panel members etc.

It's going to be a long road ahead of you both I think.

Good luck with it.

[bureaucrazy]

There are a number of head hunting companies in BKK whose services include placing

Westerners; why not contact a few of them with your CV / profile and ask for email

response of likelihood of a placement in Thailand. Can also take a look at the

Thai Oz FTA that talks to professions available to Oz citizens in Thailand under the agreement

Cool thanks, might have a go at this.

[Supaluke]

Mate, have read the relevant material, I think you are clutching at straws relying the legal argument and precedence referred to

by "* factors preventing the sponsor from joining the applicant in the applicant's own country;"

The reason I imply that is that you are relying on circumstances that pertain to the Sponsor and not to the Visa applicant.

That said, we wish you well and hope you find a creative way around the issues as they have befell you both.

[bureaucrazy]

Mate, have read the relevant material, I think you are clutching at straws relying the legal argument and precedence referred to

by "* factors preventing the sponsor from joining the applicant in the applicant's own country;"

Ok thanks. I know you guys are well intentioned and I do appreciate your taking the time to express your opinion, So I don't mean any offense but I think maybe you're used to responding to "let me google that for you" type migration queries.

This is but one item in an exhaustive submission. I posted here specifically about my relocating to thailand, because I thought some expats might be able to direct me to some resource I hadn't thought of.

I'm not relying on some obscure precedent and a single dot point in a list of criteria. I FOI'd PAM3 so I could see exactly what criteria my case officer or the AAT needs to consider, and I'm diligently addressing any factors which are even vaguely relevant. I've reviewed boatloads of cases which have gone before the AAT, to see what factors the decision makers have found significant. I only posted these two cases because I was asked to explain why I was asking.

My partner has significant assets, her health prognosis is good, and there's no doubt she will be well employed in Australia, so she may well be able to get the waiver in her own right. I can evidence these factors ad absurdium, so there's no point wasting your time explaining all the stuff I already have in hand.

As I said I appreciate your opinion, and I usually don't feel the need to defend myself to strangers on the internet, but I guess on this occasion I'm quite invested in the situation so it's disheartning to be told I'm "clutching at straws".