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Overweight???

7K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  Kimbella 
#1 ·
I was just going over some details and want to check something, I am overweight, I'm 1.80 m and weight 140 kg. Is this a big no in order to get the visa??? I don't have diabetes, cholesterol, or any of that. I'm OK and all my medical tests are between the normal ranges... I don't drink alcohol or smoke... I confess My weight is a reflex of my sedentary way of life and is due to a life of working in a highly stress environment for long hours, i was 12 to 15 hours a day and no exercise... This is one of my biggest motivation to change our way of life to a more healthier lifestyle... Could this prevent me to get the visas??? I already got the job offer and all the documents ready but this really scare me...
 
#2 ·
No one can say for sure. It could go either way.
Immigration consider the facts within the medical report. If the GP / consultant who carries out the medical marks any concerns Immigration will investigate it by referring the medical report to their medical assessor who will make a determination based on the facts presented in the report.
The facts that you do not have diabetes or high cholesterol will be in your favour but there's a lot of variables they must consider.
At the end of the day Immigration are making sure that you do not deplete the NZ health system too much over the length of your visa term if they were to award you the visa.
Promising to pay for private health cover also does not sway their views of this.

If you have a period of time before the medical I would advise you to completely change your life now. Eat healthily, lots of exercise, fruit, veggies, no smoking, no alcohol. Lose weight.
It's a small price to pay.
 
#7 ·
I appreciate your answer, unfortunately our medicals are around the corner, i don't have time to loose weight that allow us to get below the mark. I understand and have to face the decline id that as most certainly will be. It will be a blow but it is definitely a lesson learned the hard way...
 
#4 ·
As escapedtoNZ said, no one would know for sure. All you can do is try and see what happens. It may be that your specialist skills are in such shortage that they'll give you the green light. But if Liam is correct, then I guess you might be lucky to get through at your current weight.
They let Kim Dotcom (the owner of megaupload) in, and he's about your weight, but he is a multi-millionaire and therefore can guarantee payment of any medical expenses.
Do you have time to lose weight before the medical?
 
#5 ·
There's no real speculation here... While the MAs obviously have some human input on borderline cases they predominantly work from an operations manual and set guidelines, under which a BMI of 43 is a decline. People with BMIs of 35 (acceptable not so long ago) are being declined, 43 is just so high.

Kim Dotcom, like it or not, bought his residency through an investor category for $10million. OP, if you have a spare $10mill laying around, then the Medical is not an issue.
 
#10 · (Edited)
No, not under usual circumstances (well, mobility might--they do ask specific questions about back pain/surgery/injuries). I don't know that mobility issues are in and of themselves a problem, unless you *cannot* move to work... if you are physically impaired, but capable of mobility by use of aides, I don't know that you would necessarily be declined... what they don't want is someone coming over and then suddenly being incapacitated by a chronic condition that renders them unable to work, and adds strain to the welfare/health system.

Visa applications do require that you list living family members, but there is nothing requested about their health (unless you are including them in your application to come to NZ with you, and then they would be required to submit their own physical). I have some chronic, mild/moderate medical conditions which did not preclude me from passing my physical and being approved for residency--I can't see how allergies would be an issue, no matter how bad they might be. The things the "state" is concerned about our expensive maladies requiring intensive intervention, or conditions that heighten the risk of certain serious conditions in the future, i.e., obesity: high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, which can lead to kidney failure, blindness, chronic musculoskeletal stress, joint disease, etc, etc. Most mild conditions seem to be tolerated.

Cheers,
Kim
 
G
#12 ·
Here is an interesting recent story that made headlines here and even made CNN page. CNN reported that INZ never actually said that his obesity was the reason for being declined. All of his facts may not pertain to your situation but it does give some insight as to how INZ thinks and may give some idea of the arguments that could be used in a "strategy" to INZ. The overriding factor seems to be that you must not be identified as a potential drain on NZ healthcare.
Overweight chef gets 23 month reprieve - National - NZ Herald News

I can't see any specific mention of BMI or weight in the INZ manual but you get the picture of why they might just avoid obese people by reading http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/DD2D2D27-DD49-4A62-96CC-3A1F32223C8E/0/INZ1121.pdf
 
#13 ·
This is what it now says in the Examining Physicians Handbook around being able to record a BMI as insignificant;

the physical findings are completely normal, no significant recent weight loss, BMI in a normal range and less than or equal to 30

So I'm guessing if its higher than 30 its an automatic referral.
 
#14 ·
It has been interesting reading the issues regarding body mass index. me and my family are looking to immigrate to nz in 2014
I am married to a kiwi for the last ten years and have 4 children we will be applying for a family visa as his wife a British citizen, will i be effected when it comes to BMI issues as it is over thirty five with know health issues as i under take medicals every year for work.
 
#26 ·
I'm just worried about the medical tests. My teenage boy has low iron and has high risk diabetes, but doc told me its all normal nothing to worry about, just have him change his diet.
He wrote that in report. His result was 5.8 where upto 5.6 was within range and above 6.5 is diabetic. He's not overweight, bmi is like 24 or 26. he's on change of lifestyle now in case they ask for retest bcuz doctor didnt ask for a retest.

:)
 
#27 · (Edited)
Truly is probably not going to be an issue. My blood results were abnormal as well (anemia, also, in fact), but the results were nothing that required medication or immediate intervention. Even with the abnormal values (which WERE on my medical papers), my permanent residency was granted in less than 2 weeks. Also, my BMI was like 28 or 29, not exactly a skinny-minny, but nothing that alarmed the application reviewers!

Also, as a former nurse in the US, I would question your MD about putting the "high risk for diabetes" in his report! The *fact* is that he does not have diabetes, whether he will or won't in the future is not the case unless he has *diagnosed* conditions that could exacerbate his chances of developing it, eg, obesity, insulin resistance or pre-diabetes (fluctuating blood sugar levels and consistently elevated hgba1c numbers). If your son has none of these, and only a familial history that predisposes him to a higher risk of developing diabetes, well, that's really not something that should be indicated in his medical report, as it is a SUPPOSITION based on history, not current or past medical history of the patient himself.

Just wanting to help. Lots of times US doctors struggle to know how to fill out forms properly and either don't put enough, or put too much and it makes things look way worse than they are. My tip as someone who has filled out literally thousands of forms for befuddled and frazzled MD's: tell him EXACTLY what you want on the form, and what you don't: I DON'T want my son marked as 'potentially' having a disease that he DOES not have, Doctor.

Ok, rant over. You might even be beyond this stage, and if so, sorry if it's old news! lol

Cheers!
 
#28 ·
That actually happen to me Kimbella, my first MD choice begin to say that our (mine and my wife) levels of sugar and cholesterol were to high and with a high risk and he begin to make a history out of it... When I check it with my parents (both are MD's as well) they said that everything was great, i have a high glucose but not above the maximum rank in the lab test parameters and my wife was a little low on iron and high in cholesterol without breaking the mark and it was expected because we both are overweight (my wife is 1.68 and weights around 90KG.) but we don't have high blood pressure and our new MD she was so comprehensive and also she already had filled some med certificates for NZ previously so she understand everything and she was able to help me with this.
She referred me to my nutriologist now and he also include the diet and meals plan we will be using for the next 2 years to reduce weight, at the same time he included a letter to the INZ explaining the methodology to be used and the follow up plan with a referral doctor I need to find in NZ for my weight issue...

So pretty much we cover our bases and tried to find a way to explain to INZ we were not perfect but we are doing something to improve...
This was the most stressful and now the most rewarding thing was that my employer said this was the fastest approval he knows... And he is happy for all the effort we put to make it work this way...
 
#29 ·
Kimbella said:
Truly is probably not going to be an issue. My blood results were abnormal as well (anemia, also, in fact), but the results were nothing that required medication or immediate intervention. Even with the abnormal values (which WERE on my medical papers), my permanent residency was granted in less than 2 weeks. Also, my BMI was like 28 or 29, not exactly a skinny-minny, but nothing that alarmed the application reviewers!

Also, as a former nurse in the US, I would question your MD about putting the "high risk for diabetes" in his report! The *fact* is that he does not have diabetes, whether he will or won't in the future is not the case unless he has *diagnosed* conditions that could exacerbate his chances of developing it, eg, obesity, insulin resistance or pre-diabetes (fluctuating blood sugar levels and consistently elevated hgba1c numbers). If your son has none of these, and only a familial history that predisposes him to a higher risk of developing diabetes, well, that's really not something that should be indicated in his medical report, as it is a SUPPOSITION based on history, not current or past medical history of the patient himself.

Just wanting to help. Lots of times US doctors struggle to know how to fill out forms properly and either don't put enough, or put too much and it makes things look way worse than they are. My tip as someone who has filled out literally thousands of forms for befuddled and frazzled MD's: tell him EXACTLY what you want on the form, and what you don't: I DON'T want my son marked as 'potentially' having a disease that he DOES not have, Doctor.

Ok, rant over. You might even be beyond this stage, and if so, sorry if it's old news! lol

Cheers!
Wow. Thanks. Thankfully in his report he only put recommend multi vitamins and diet change and he put no concerns at all. He didnt check off the retest. But in the lab technical results that had to be attached his range says high risk.

You're right about the filling out forms here, I went through loads, he's so busy he was like why do u need this. Lool. I was like to seek a less hectic life :)

Thank you for your insight, ill update after I submit next week. :)
 
#30 ·
chlg said:
That actually happen to me Kimbella, my first MD choice begin to say that our (mine and my wife) levels of sugar and cholesterol were to high and with a high risk and he begin to make a history out of it... When I check it with my parents (both are MD's as well) they said that everything was great, i have a high glucose but not above the maximum rank in the lab test parameters and my wife was a little low on iron and high in cholesterol without breaking the mark and it was expected because we both are overweight (my wife is 1.68 and weights around 90KG.) but we don't have high blood pressure and our new MD she was so comprehensive and also she already had filled some med certificates for NZ previously so she understand everything and she was able to help me with this.
She referred me to my nutriologist now and he also include the diet and meals plan we will be using for the next 2 years to reduce weight, at the same time he included a letter to the INZ explaining the methodology to be used and the follow up plan with a referral doctor I need to find in NZ for my weight issue...

So pretty much we cover our bases and tried to find a way to explain to INZ we were not perfect but we are doing something to improve...
This was the most stressful and now the most rewarding thing was that my employer said this was the fastest approval he knows... And he is happy for all the effort we put to make it work this way...
you're right, no one is perfect, someone must hv some kind of deficiency somewhere. Lool. ;)
 
#31 ·
It sounds like everything is in order for you both, which is great news! The best way to make your transition smooth is to prepare, prepare, prepare, and prepare some more! And, as chlg has noted, I have found that thinking two steps ahead of what the bureaucrats might want or need has made settling into the routine here nice and smooth...
 
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