Health Requirements for New Zealand Residence
Residence applicants must meet an acceptable standard of health. The rule with the sharpest edge is a cost test: INZ may decline where a medical assessor considers your likely health service costs would exceed NZ$81,000, assessed over five years or over the predicted course of your condition. A medical examination and chest x-ray are standard.
Quick Facts
| The test | An acceptable standard of health, assessed by an INZ medical assessor |
| The cost threshold | INZ may decline where likely health service costs are considered to exceed NZ$81,000 |
| Period assessed | Five years, or the predicted course of the condition |
| When it changed | Rose from NZ$41,000 to NZ$81,000 on 4 September 2022, and has been stable since |
| Skilled Migrant Category | Medical examination and chest x-ray |
| Dependent Child Resident Visa | Medical examination mandatory; chest x-ray from age 11 |
| Care Workforce Work to Residence | Medicals and chest x-rays from age 15 |
| Who does the examination | An INZ panel physician, through the eMedical system. Not your own GP |
| Waivers | Medical waivers exist for some categories. Parent Boost has none |
| What we will not do | Predict whether any individual will pass. That is regulated advice, not information |
What "acceptable standard of health" means
New Zealand does not publish a list of banned conditions. It applies a standard, and the standard has two parts.
Public health. Certain conditions are screened because of their implications for public health, which is why the chest x-ray exists — it screens for tuberculosis.
Cost and demand on services. This is the part that decides most residence cases. An INZ medical assessor considers the likely cost of the health and disability services a person would be expected to need. Where those costs are considered to exceed NZ$81,000, assessed over five years or over the predicted course of the condition, the application may be declined.
That figure is the single most useful number in New Zealand's health rules, and it is stated by INZ itself. It has been NZ$81,000 since 4 September 2022, when it roughly doubled from NZ$41,000. It has been stable for four years, which is exactly the kind of figure that moves quietly — check it before you rely on it.
Note the phrasing carefully. It is a may decline, based on an assessor's estimate of likely costs. It is not a mechanical calculation, and no website can run it for you.
The plain-language definition is in acceptable standard of health, and a fuller walkthrough in the acceptable standard of health, explained.
What you will actually be asked to do
Requirements vary by visa and by age. The verified positions across residence categories:
| Category | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Skilled Migrant Category | Medical examination and chest x-ray |
| Straight to Residence | Medicals required |
| Care Workforce Work to Residence | Medicals and chest x-rays from age 15 |
| Dependent Child Resident Visa | Medical examination mandatory; chest x-ray from age 11 |
| Active Investor Plus | Chest x-ray and medical examination |
| Parent Boost Visitor Visa | Both required; evidence must be less than 3 months old when INZ receives it; no medical waivers available |
Examinations are done by panel physicians — doctors INZ has approved — and submitted through eMedical, INZ's electronic health system. Your own GP cannot do it unless they happen to be on the panel. Booking the wrong doctor is the most common wasted appointment in the whole process.
Practical guides: the NZ visa medical examination guide and chest x-ray requirements for NZ visas.
Four things this site will not publish
Being straight about the gaps is more useful than filling them with a guess.
We do not publish the "over 6 months means a chest x-ray, over 12 months means a full medical" rule. It is repeated everywhere. It could not be confirmed on INZ's current site, whose own page says only that what you need "depends on the type of visa you are applying for, how long you intend to stay in New Zealand, what country you are from, and whether you have provided a medical certificate to us with an earlier application". The one durable data point is a work-visa rule: AEWV applicants from high-TB-incidence countries staying more than 6 months require a chest x-ray.
We do not publish a low-TB or chest-x-ray country list. INZ maintains a page on countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis. We could not retrieve it, and a wrong country list would send people to the wrong appointment. Read INZ's own list.
We do not publish INZ medical form numbers. The form numbers circulating on third-party sites did not appear on INZ's current health pages after its site rebuild.
We do not publish a medical certificate validity period. The commonly quoted figure could not be established. Where a category does state one — Parent Boost requires evidence less than 3 months old at submission — we say so.
Medical waivers
A medical waiver is the mechanism by which an applicant who does not meet the acceptable standard of health can still be granted a visa. It exists. INZ maintains a dedicated page, "Medical waivers for visa applications".
What we can confirm: waivers are available for some visa categories, and they are not available for the Parent Boost Visitor Visa — INZ states that plainly on the visa page.
What we will not state: the waiver test itself. The criteria INZ applies, the factors it weighs and the evidence it expects were not retrievable in our research, and a waiver application is precisely the kind of matter where a half-remembered test causes harm. Read INZ's medical waiver page, and read medical waivers for NZ visa applications.
A waiver request is also, realistically, the point at which most people should stop reading websites. It is an argument built from medical evidence and personal circumstances, made to a decision-maker. Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, building that argument for someone is immigration advice, and only a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer may do it.
The conditions people actually search for
Some of the most common searches in this area are people asking whether they and their family are welcome. They deserve a straight answer rather than an evasion.
There is no published list of conditions that automatically bar residence. The test is the acceptable standard of health, and the cost element turns on an assessor's view of the likely cost of services over five years or the predicted course of the condition. A condition that is well managed and inexpensive to manage sits differently from one requiring sustained high-cost treatment. That is the mechanism. How it applies to any individual depends on their medical evidence.
A diagnosis in the family does not end the process. Applications including a family member with a health condition or a disability are made, assessed and granted. They are also declined. The variables are the evidence and the assessor's cost estimate, and neither can be forecast from a webpage.
What we will not do is guess at your outcome. Not for HIV, not for autism, not for ADHD, not for hepatitis, not for a disabled child, not for a cancer history. Predicting an individual outcome is regulated immigration advice, and it carries penalties of up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment when given without a licence. It is also, in practice, unknowable — assessors work from specialist reports and treatment histories that no website has seen.
What is worth doing is getting the medical evidence right before anything is lodged: current specialist reports, treatment plans, prognosis and cost information, and the applicant's own history of managing the condition. That is the material a medical assessor and, if needed, a waiver request are built on.
Related reading, written to the same standard: moving to New Zealand with a medical condition, moving to New Zealand with a disability, moving to New Zealand with autism or ADHD and moving to New Zealand with HIV.
If INZ raises a health concern
INZ's decision-making process includes putting potentially prejudicial information to an applicant before a decision is made, so it can be answered. That correspondence is commonly called a PPI letter, and it is not a decline. It is an invitation to respond, usually on a deadline.
A health-related PPI is the moment when professional help stops being optional for most people. See what is a PPI letter and PPI letter from Immigration New Zealand.
If a residence application is ultimately declined, residence-class decisions can be appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. A Residence Appeal costs NZ$964, the fee cannot be waived, and residence appeals are generally determined within 10 to 12 months. Confirm your own appeal deadline from your decision letter and the Tribunal's guide — not from any website. See how to appeal a residence visa decline.
Practical sequencing
- Book the panel physician early. Medicals sit on the critical path of a residence application and cannot be rushed.
- Do not let evidence go stale. Where a category sets a recency rule — Parent Boost's three months, for example — a medical done too early has to be done again.
- Gather specialist material yourself. Panel physicians record findings; they do not build your case. Reports, treatment plans and cost evidence come from your treating specialists.
- Get the family's medicals aligned. Everyone included in a residence application is assessed, and one person's health can affect the application as a whole.
- Read the health section on your specific visa page. The requirements genuinely differ by category and age.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptable standard of health for a New Zealand visa?
It is INZ's health test. It covers public health considerations and the likely cost and demand a person would place on New Zealand's health and disability services. INZ may decline where a medical assessor considers likely costs would exceed NZ$81,000, assessed over five years or the predicted course of the condition.
What is the NZ$81,000 health threshold?
It is the point at which health service costs are treated as significant. It applies over a five-year period or over the predicted course of an applicant's medical condition. It rose from NZ$41,000 effective 4 September 2022 and has been unchanged since, though it is worth re-checking before relying on it.
If I have a medical condition, can I still apply for New Zealand residence?
Yes — having a condition does not stop you applying, and applications involving health conditions are granted as well as declined. The outcome turns on the medical evidence and the assessor's view of likely costs, and where the standard is not met, some categories allow a medical waiver to be considered. No website can tell you how your own case will be decided.
Do I need a medical for a New Zealand visa?
For residence, usually yes. Skilled Migrant Category applicants require a medical examination and a chest x-ray. Requirements vary by category and age — chest x-rays apply from age 11 on the Dependent Child Resident Visa and from age 15 on Care Workforce Work to Residence. Check the health section on your own visa page.
Who can do my New Zealand immigration medical?
Only a doctor on INZ's panel, working through the eMedical system. Your usual GP cannot do it unless they are a panel physician. INZ publishes the list of approved doctors.
How long are New Zealand immigration medical certificates valid?
INZ's general validity period could not be verified in our research and we will not publish a figure we cannot stand behind. Some categories publish their own recency rule — the Parent Boost Visitor Visa requires health evidence less than three months old when INZ receives it. Confirm the rule for your visa with INZ.
Can I get a medical waiver for a New Zealand residence visa?
Medical waivers exist for some categories, and INZ publishes a dedicated page about them. They are not available for the Parent Boost Visitor Visa. The test INZ applies was not retrievable in our research, so read INZ's page and take advice from a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer before making a waiver request.
Does my whole family need medicals?
Everyone included in a residence application is subject to the health requirements, with age-based variations for chest x-rays. A health issue affecting one person included in an application can affect the application as a whole.
This page is general information, not immigration advice. We explain what the published rules require. We do not assess whether any individual meets the acceptable standard of health and we do not predict outcomes — under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 that is regulated advice. For advice on your own circumstances, use a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer, and check the licence on the Immigration Advisers Authority register.
