WHV - Requires X-Ray!?
Replies: 9 - Last Post: Aug 6, 2012 2:57 AM Last Post By: BarrattsMini
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WHV - Requires X-Ray!?
Hello all,My girlfriend and I just submitted out WHV applications - YAY - But ...
It asks if you have lived Consecutively outside of the UK for more than 3 months, I have and here's where:
Orland, Florida - 10 months (2011) working at Disney < Not a problem
Phuket Thailand - December 19 2009 - February 18th 2010
Boarder crossing to Malaysia to extend visa as I was a Thai boxing camp
February 19th - March 19th then flew home
Because I put that down for Thailand I have to be checked for TB. I am positive I don't have TB. I sure as hell don't think I'd have smashed two 10k's in the past 6 weeks in 52m and 50m whilst also doing 3 months of P90X if I had TB.
Now the Oz Government force you to choose from a certain selection of hospitals - all private. The cost for the X-ray £100 and the nearest place is Manchester, £30 return trip in fuel and AT LEAST half a day off of work which will cost me a further £50. Nearly £200 lost on a bloody X-Ray. So questions:
Could I call the Oz Embassy and maybe escape on a technicality that I wasn't in Thailand for a consequtive 3 months?
Will they let me get this through the NHS? I see my GP having no problems letting me get an X-Ray for this. An old friend actually happens to be a Radiologist ...
Thoughts?
This literally doubles the cost of my visa :(
1
Infact I just realised I may have filled this out incorrectly ...I travelled South East Asia starting Sept 1st 2009 and I returned home in May 2010. I only informed them of Thailand because that was the only place I stayed for up to 3 months.
I'm guessing realistically they meant out of the UK for 3 months which would have required me to mention:
Japan 2 weeks
South Korea 2 weeks
China 2.5 months
Vietnam 3 weeks
Cambodia 2 weeks
Thailand 3 months
Did this all need mentioning - Do I need to call them Monday and inform them of this?
I'm worried now because the X-Ray cost is £100 but if I mention all of this they may want a full medical and that comes out at £290 + loss of earnings + travel + cost of Visa. In essence my WHV for Oz will have cost me close to £650 which is just ridiculous. Ridiculous because I could probably get it through the NHS for free :@
Please ... any thoughts?
2
Unfortunately the NHS is not in the business of providing certification for holidays to foreign governments. They'll provide X-rays, but not just on demand, and generally won't provide medicals or certificates for employment or visas.The Australian chest x-ray requirement seems excessively strict to me but I know that the logic is that you'll be working in the country for a period of up to two years. Personally, I'd not have mentioned anything that isn't stamped on your passport.
Calling the Australian Consulate with visa queries is pretty much a waste of time - and I say that as an Australian.
3
Now the Oz Government force you to choose from a certain selection of hospitals - all private. The cost for the X-ray £100 and the nearest place is Manchester, £30 return trip in fuel and AT LEAST half a day off of work which will cost me a further £50. Nearly £200 lost on a bloody X-Ray. So questions:
It's a long term visa. It has more onerous requirements than just turning up as a tourist.
You may be interested to know the UK (as do most developed countries) give casual tourists and business travellers from developing countries a much harder time. You can expect to have to go to the UK embassy or consulate, in person, on a day they specify, regardless a embassy/consulate being in a different city to where you live, together with all your bank statements, proof of funds, proof of flight booking, proof of where you are going to stay and evidence that you are likely to return home.
In comparison, £100 for an X-ray and 1/2 a day off work does not seem so bad.
4
Most TB sufferers in Australia contracted it while in another country. As the symptoms might take some time to develop, it is in everyone's interests that you know whether or not you are carrying TB, and a chest X-ray is the best way of achieving this.5
To get a long-term visa for Australia (or NZ) you need to not have TB; it is one of several medical issues. Basically, they assume you might have it and that you need to prove you don't have it unless you come from a small list of approved TB-free countries and have NOT spent much time out of that list of countries recently....so you need an X-ray.Cost?
Well, a decade ago the NHS did do such things, but you had to pay them.
Australia have a habit of not trusting 'all doctors in developed countries', though, and like to make a list of ones they approve for you to see.
Maybe take the day off work as an annual leave day? d they have a 'special leave' or 'Medical leave' you can use with the manager's approval?
Then use the day for more than just an X-ray visit? Do other stuff in Manchester? Be tourist or see an old friend for lunch?
6
I too, had to have a chest xray as long ago as 1980 when I applied for a WHV. My aunt had had TB, so I could have been at risk... it cost a lot then £50, if I remember rightly, which means the actual cost hasn't gone up that much. My single air fare to Perth was £330, so relatively, £100 isn't that much.You would be very lucky to get one on the NHS, just as you won't get vaccinations or malaria pills, since I supose it's considered a luxury.
7
We have to go through stuff like this a lot of the time for our employees for different visas and employment medicals.There used to be some NHS GPs who would do it "privately" on the side for their patients but most employer organisations and consulates have a list of approved doctors now, such as OP has mentioned, which have supposedly been audited by them( to prevent a trade in false certificates) I guess.
It's certainly not peculiar to Australia, other countries (and employers) do it too for long term visas or work permits, and unfortunately a doctor's cert carries more weight than "Yeah but I just ran 10k"
9
#8 - I will ignore this response. Don't be so simpleAs for the rest of the replies, thanks.
I actually called the Au Embassy this morning and they told me I should e-mail the WHV processing team. She said she is unsure whether stating the other countries travelled will make a difference to what medical examinations need to be undertaken.
Everywhere I have been is stamped in my Visa bar a trip to Venice so it is quite full. I would rather make sure I do it right whilst in the UK than being denied entry when in Sydney. Hopefully an X-Ray is all that is needed
