The Medical Health Examination Procedure

The document checklist lists Form 26EH - Medical Examination for an Australian visa as the requirements for each family member as well as Form 160EH - Radiologist report on chest x-ray for all the adult applicants.

I suppose this means that I need to follow the instructions on this page:

"You must arrange your health examination with a panel doctor and/or panel radiology clinic nominated by the Australian Government. Unless otherwise indicated, health examinations conducted overseas are only acceptable if conducted by a panel doctor/radiologist."

As I was to learn afterwards, the medical exam could be deferred to a later time, after a case officer would specifically request it. In the email reply to my query, the DIAC mentions:

"Applicants for an 'offshore' General Skilled Migration visa can undertake health and character checking prior to their application being allocated to a case officer.

The benefit of applicants undertaking health and character checks may be a reduction in the amount of time required before a decision can be made, however, applicants and migration agents should be aware that:

* Health examinations and police clearances have limited validity periods and if these expire before the application is finalised these checks may be requested again, and must be provided at the applicant's cost.

* The ASPC may still need to undertake other checking in respect of the application that may delay a decision.

* Undertaking health examinations and providing police clearances does not guarantee an application will be successful.

To assist in deciding when to undertake health and character procedures please send a blank email to gsm.processing@immi.gov.au for current application processing dates.

Alternatively, applicants can wait on a request from a case officer before proceeding with these checks."

Contact information for panel doctors for Pakistan/ Karachi is listed here, with the following details:

IOM Karachi Sub Office

House # F-8/1, KDA Scheme I

Tipu Sultan Road

(adjacent to Karsaz Road before Peer Pagara, round the corner from 'Gelato Affair')

Karachi

Telephone: +92 21 3452 2393

Mobile phone numbers are also provided on calling, +92 307 537 1775-76.

A 9 a.m. (four to five hour) appointment is scheduled with the phone operator after noting TRN file number, passport numbers, name and DOB of each applicant for any day following a few week from the day of the call , who advises you to ensure you bring with you to the appointment:

1. All the relevant form (26EH and 160EH for each applicant above 11 years)

2. Original passports and two photocopies of each

3. Original NIC and one photocopy of each

4. 3 recent passport size photographs with a light background

5. TRN number and visa processing office details

6. Payment of Rs. 5,600 per adult and 2,800 per child

Note that you have to provide the visa processing office details yourself - they do not automatically forward it to the relevant office. According to the phone operators, this is usually mentioned in a letter forwarded by the case officer for your file.

Since I haven't been contacted by a case officer yet, I sent an email that should clarify whether I need to wait for a case officer to review my file and advise me to take the medical exam, or whether I need to provide the Adelaide office details.

I received a reply providing the following: Information regarding sending medical results can be found at the departments website on this page. The information given on the link wasn't very helpful in clearing any doubts, but the pdf document Where to send Australian Visa Medicals generally advised the documents be sent to Global Health (GH) in the absence of any specific instructions.

As per the information here, General Skilled Migration (GSM) visas are processed by the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre (ASPC) and GSM Brisbane, with the Adelaide office (55 Currie Street, Adelaide SA 5000) being responsible for Online Visa Subclass 175 Skilled – Independent applications.

However, I've most probably wasted my money and a grueling 8 hours (including around four extra hours for an additional ECG and blood test at Aga Khan for my mother, since we indicated on the form that she has Type 2 diabetes) as we did the medical quite prematurely.

For anybody out there who's doing this themselves, I strongly recommend you don't go in for the medical till a case officer specifically requests one.