Health Waiver

A health waiver is available for some visa subclasses. If a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) finds you do not meet the health requirement, DOHA may exercise a health waiver for you.

A health waiver can only be exercised for you (and any non-migrating family members) for certain visas to which PIC 4007 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Regulations) applies.

Where PIC 4005 of the Regulations applies, if you (or a non-migrating family member) fail to meet the health requirement for a visa, there is no provision for a health waiver to be considered.

You must first meet all other eligibility criteria for the visa. DOHA must then be satisfied that granting you the visa is unlikely to:

• Result in a significant health care and community service cost to the Australian community or
• Prevent Australian citizens or permanent residents from accessing health care or community services that are currently in short supply

When determining if you meet the visa health requirement, a MOC will consider whether you have a condition that may be a significant cost to the Australian ​community. Significant cost is interpreted as a cost that is ‘higher than the average health and community services cost for an Australian’.

Significant Cost Threshold (SCT)

The Significant Cost Threshold (SCT) is the underpinning policy to ‘contain public expenditure on health care and community services’ as outlined in the Migration Regulations 1994. The current value of the SCT is $86,000. ​

The ‘average cost for an Australian’ is calculated as the average spending for health and welfare services an Australian would require over a 5-year period.

Time Period of Assessing Estimated Cost

The way in which a MOC assesses the estimated cost of your condition will differ depending on whether your application is for a temporary visa or for a provisional / permanent visa listed below:

• For temporary visa, our estimated health and/or community costs for your condition will be assessed for your period of stay in Australia.
• For provisional or permanent visa, your estimated health costs for your condition will be generally assessed for a period of 5 years (or 3 years if you are aged 75 years or older). However, if you have a permanent or ongoing condition with a reasonably predictable course, the MOC will assess your health costs over your remaining life expectancy up to a maximum of 10 years.

Health Undertaking

DOHA may also ask you to sign a health undertaking if you have another significant health condition such as:

• Inactive tuberculosis
• HIV
• Hepatitis B or C or
• Leprosy

All members of the family unit must satisfy the criteria to meet the health requirement. If you or any member of a family (either migrating or non-migrating) unit fails the health examination, either you or no family member can be granted a visa.

Mitigating Factors in Waiver

The following are the mitigating factors that may achieve a successful health waiver:

• An Australian citizen sponsor has been diagnosed with a health condition and would be unable to access appropriate treatment if forced to relocate
• There is no permanent migration pathway to the applicant’s home country (or another country that the couple have the legal right to reside in) available to the sponsor (for example, because same-sex migration to that country is not available)
• The sponsor would be seriously adversely affected financially, such that they would be unable to subsist (maintain or support themselves at a minimal level) in the applicant’s home country due to a lack of language skills, family support and/or employment opportunities
• The sponsor holds/held a Protection or Refugee/Humanitarian visa and a decision not to waive would separate him/her from his/her spouse/children as he/she is unable to return to the country from which he/she fled and there is no third country option
• There is evidence of an adverse impact on Australian citizen minor children if a decision not to waive is made (for instance, the sponsor has provided evidence that he/she is prevented by the other parent from removing minor children from Australia)
• The sponsor has significant family links to Australia and has demonstrated caring or financial obligations towards them
• Australia would miss out on a significant benefit that the applicant/sponsor could contribute to Australia’s business, economic, cultural or other development (for example, a specialised skill/business that is highly sought after in Australia) or are providing a valuable community service (for instance through their employment and/or volunteering activities)
• The sponsor/family is already settled in a remote, rural or regional area
• The sponsor/applicant and/or other working family members in a non-Skilled visa application have occupational skills in high demand (refer to the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) of the Skilled Occupation List)
• For Skilled visas, the applicant and/or other working family members have occupational skills that are found on the Department of Jobs and Small Business Skilled Shortage lists
• If not on the MLTSSL or the Department of Jobs and Small Business Skilled Shortage lists, the applicant/sponsor has a unique skillset that is vital to their employer’s business, and/or there is evidence that the employer would suffer detriment if a health waiver was not exercised
• There are any other compelling or compassionate factors including the location and circumstances of the applicant and/or sponsor’s family members