Acceptable standard of health for the grant of New Zealand residence

Under current immigration residence criteria all individuals included in an application for New Zealand permanent residence are required to demonstrate that they have an acceptable standard of health for the grant of New Zealand residence, or, failing this, they qualify for a "medical waiver".

The current list of health conditions which indicate that an individual is not of the acceptable standard of health is as follows:

• HIV infection;
• Hepatitis B-surface antigen positive and meeting criteria for anti-viral treatment in New Zealand;
• Hepatitis C-RNA positive and meeting criteria for anti-viral treatment in New Zealand;
• Malignancies of organs, skin (such as melanoma) and haematopoietic tissue, including past history of, or currently under treatment. Exceptions are:
  • treated minor skin malignancies;
  • malignancies where the interval since treatment is such that the probability of recurrence is greater than 10 percent.
• Requirement for organ transplants (with the exclusion of corneal grafts), or following organ transplant when immune suppression is required (with the exclusion of corneal grafts);
• Severe, chronic or progressive renal or hepatic disorders;
• Musculoskeletal diseases or disorders such as osteoarthritis with a high probability of surgery in the next five years;
• Severe, chronic or progressive neurological disorders, including but not exclusive to:
  • Any dementia including Alzheimer’s disease;
  • Poorly controlled epilepsy;
  • Complex seizure disorder;
  • Cerebrovascular disease;
  • Cerebral palsy;
  • Paraplegia, quadriplegia;
  • Poliomyelitis;
  • Parkinson’s disease;
  • Motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy;
  • Prion disease;
  • Relapsing and/or progressive multiple sclerosis.
• Cardiac diseases, including but not exclusive to:
  • Severe ischaemic heart disease;
  • Cardiomyopathy;
  • Valve disease with a high probability of surgical and/or other procedural intervention in the next five years;
  • Aortic aneurysm with a high probability of surgical and/or other procedural intervention in the next five years;
• Chronic respiratory disease, including but not exclusive to:
  • Severe and/or progressive restrictive (including interstitial) lung disease;
  • Severe and/or progressive obstructive lung disease;
  • Cystic fibrosis;
• Significant or disabling hereditary disorders, including but not exclusive to:
  • Hereditary anaemias and coagulation disorders;
  • Primary immune-deficiencies
  • Gaucher’s disease
• Severe autoimmune disease which may require treatment in New Zealand with immune-suppressant medications other than Prednisone, Methotrexate, Azathioprine or Salazopyrine;
• Severe (71-90 decibels) hearing loss or profound bilateral sensori-neural hearing loss after best possible correction at country of origin, where significant support is required, including cochlear implants;
• Severe vision impairment with visual acuity of 6/36 or beyond after best possible correction at country of origin, or a loss restricting the field of vision to 15-20 degrees where significant support is required;
• Severe developmental disorders or severe cognitive impairments where significant support is required, including but not exclusive to:
  • Physical disability;
  • Intellectual disability;
  • Autistic spectrum disorders;
  • Brain injury;
• Major psychiatric illness and/or addiction including any psychiatric condition that has required hospitalisation and/or where significant support is required;
• Those with a history, diagnostic findings or treatment for MDR-TB or XDR-TB, unless they have been cleared by a New Zealand Respiratory or Infectious Diseases specialist upon review of their file or review of the applicant according to the New Zealand Guidelines for Tuberculosis Treatment.
  If these medical conditions are evident (in most instances further reports from specialists are required to confirm this), then the applicant’s condition will be deemed to impose a significant cost and/or demand on the provision of New Zealand’s health services and therefore the individual will fail the requirement to demonstrate a satisfactory standard of health.

For full details on health requirements, see our Health Requirements Leaflet (NZIS 1121) PDF.