Medical Questions

[Mikagami84]

Hello everyone,

Im a single professional planning to immigrate to Canada and apply through the Express Entry Program.

I just have some questions about medical inadmissibility because of my health condition.

I had history of acquiring pneumonia and menigitis back in 2014. I got treated. Same year I learned I am HIV+ and has been in ARV eversince until to date. After that year, I never had any severe health issues, and I'd like to believe that Im in great condition, not hospitalized or treated for any sickness, and now living a normal life.

Questions are:

1. With the recent changes and future improvements on Canada Immigration's medically inadmissibility due to excessive demand or medical inadmissibility, will I have great chances of getting my application still approved or refused because of my condition despite living a normal life and not being hospitalized for more than 3 years now since my diagnosis and treatment.
2. Is it advisable to disclose my medical history or not disclose at all my past so this wont be questioned and open more can of worms on my application?

Need anyone's advised if you were in the same position as mine. Just for peace of mind.

Thanks in advance.

 

[LifeDreamer]

You are inadmissible to Canada on medical grounds due to your HIV condition and this is likely to remain for the foreseeable future. It won't make a difference whether you disclose it or not it will be detected from the blood samples you give in the medical exam as part of the application process. There is no way around it.

Good news is you are admissible to most other countries so it's just Canada that may not be the one for you. If you insist on immigrating to Canada however I can advise you on a workaround to this problem.

 

[Mikagami84]

This is heartbreaking as I had hopes that Canada Immigration is starting to look at revising their inadmissability guidelines which are more relevant and inclusive to Canada's values.

May I know workaround and options that you suggest?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[canuck78]

This is not true. Even before the changes in the medical inadmissibility criteria people were approved. You have a very good change. It really depends on your current mediation regimen and how much it costs. The majority are under the $6500 because they have become generic drugs, I would look up a provincial drug formulary and figure out the cost of your medication in Canada. Yes you should be upfront about any medical issues during your exam.

 

[Mikagami84]

Thank you for the response.

I heard the yearly health funds cap will be increased by double or triple making it around $20000 per year. And yes I am on generic ARV medication following a good healthy lifestyle. Reason why I dont percieve this a problem on excessive demands. Heard that there will be breakthrough news and changes this June leaving Poz people great chances of getting approved PR visas.

Thanks very much.

Hope there are similar scenarios of actual experiences that can be shared here.

 

[canuck78]

If you search the forum you will find many HIV+ individuals who were able to immigrate even with the lower amount of $6500. The higher amount of almost 20K is already being used. Just anticipate that you will have to show what medications you are currently taking and may be required to show the Canadian equivalent pricing. You should probably search to make sure your medications are available in generic form in Canada because patent lengths are different in every country. You shouldn't be medically inadmissible unless you are one of the really new medications and you could always discuss changing to a lower cost regimen if that is the case. Best of luck!

 

[LifeDreamer]

I apologize I was not aware of the exact details of the new changes to medical inadmissibility they are fairly new and have been announced just a little over a month ago. I think you are admissible unless you have another condition(s) besides HIV that raise the overall cost of your treatments.

The workaround I would've suggested is similar to what canuck78 mentioned already, by switching to cheaper generic drugs before applying and showing your own calculations to the VO.

 

[canuck78]

I apologize I was not aware of the exact details of the new changes to medical inadmissibility they are fairly new and have been announced just a little over a month ago. I think you are admissible unless you have another condition(s) besides HIV that raise the overall cost of your treatments.

The workaround I would've suggested is similar to what canuck78 mentioned already, by switching to cheaper generic drugs before applying and showing your own calculations to the VO.

Has likely been admissible for the past 5-10 years, perhaps even more, when the HIV drugs (ARVs) started to lose their patent protection.

 

[LifeDreamer]

If you search the Canadian Federal court you'll find numerous cases challenging HIV inadmissibility decisions often unsuccessfully, and also on this forum you'll find many threads dealing with this issue such as this one:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...d/threads/hiv-medical-inadmissibility.215325/
It is also the general consensus among journalists in media and print that HIV remains an obstacle for immigrants to Canada as you can find many articles online.

Many HIV drugs did lose their patents in the past 5-10 years, but the process for developing generic versions takes many years as going through clinical trials and getting approval is both time consuming and costly. For this reason generic drugs have only been available in Canada just in the last couple of years.

 

[Bs65]

Some more info not specific to whether an application would be accepted or not but part of the process if required.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...tifications/procedure-hiv-positive-cases.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...hanges-to-medical-inadmissibility-policy.html

 

[canuck78]

AlL depends on the medical regimen. Same as many other diseases. All applicants who are HIV+ will likely still have continue going through the procedural fairness process. Some may have given up or not known what they had to do fight but wouldn't agree that the general media thinks HIV remains a barrier to immigration these days. Same as many autoimmune diseases now that Humira's patent is coming to an end.