Health waivers
A health-based refusal is not the end of the pathway. Where a visa carries a health waiver, the Department can grant it even though the health criterion is not met — if the case for the public interest is properly built. That is the case we prepare.
Waiver, not automatic
A waiver is only available for some visa subclasses, and only where PIC 4007 (not the stricter PIC 4005) applies. Get the health opinion assessed before you respond — the window to make submissions is short.
Start health reviewWhen a waiver exists
Almost every applicant must meet the visa health requirement. Whether a waiver is even possible turns on which public interest criterion your visa attracts. Under PIC 4005 there is no discretion — the requirement must be met. Under PIC 4007 a decision-maker may waive it.
Waiver-eligible streams include partner, child and certain other family and humanitarian visas. For the underlying rules, see our health requirement guide.
A waiver is not granted for the asking. The decision-maker weighs the estimated cost to Australian health and community services against the countervailing case — which is exactly the material we assemble.
Where the line is drawn
The cost threshold
A condition is treated as a ‘significant cost’ when the estimated cost to health and community services over the relevant period crosses a set threshold. The threshold is set by the Department and reviewed over time — we confirm the figure current at your assessment date rather than relying on an old number.
The MOC estimate
A Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) forms the opinion on likely costs and care needs over a hypothetical period, on the assumption services will be used. That opinion drives the outcome — and its projections and assumptions can be tested with independent medical and actuarial evidence.
Two questions, not one
Whether the requirement is met is separate from whether it should be waived. Even where the cost estimate stands, a PIC 4007 waiver can still carry the application — which is why the health opinion and the waiver submission are prepared as two distinct pieces of work.
Cost estimates and thresholds are set by the Department and change over time; figures current as at 3 July 2026 — confirm the applicable threshold at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Third-party medical examination fees are additional and vary.
The public interest case
A waiver submission is not a plea for sympathy — it is a structured argument that granting the visa serves the public interest despite the estimated cost. We build it on the factors decision-makers actually weigh.
Contribution & support
Skills, employment history, tax contribution and the family’s capacity to support the applicant — the ways the applicant offsets, or is unlikely to draw on, public resources.
Compassionate grounds
The impact of a refusal on Australian citizen and permanent resident family members, including partners and children, and the hardship of separation or relocation.
Testing the cost estimate
We work with independent specialists to scrutinise the MOC’s assumptions and long-term projections — care settings, service uptake and prognosis — so the estimate the waiver has to overcome is a fair one.
From opinion to outcome
Assess eligibility
We confirm whether your visa attracts PIC 4007, so a waiver is even on the table, and review the health opinion and any Department correspondence.
Independent evidence
Where the projections warrant it, we brief independent medical and actuarial experts to address the MOC’s cost estimate on its own terms.
The submission
We draft the waiver submission — contribution, compassionate factors and cost mitigation — supported by properly organised documentary evidence.
If it is refused
A health refusal can often be reviewed. We advise frankly on merits review at the ART and, where a decision is legally flawed, judicial review.
Health waiver FAQs
What is a health waiver?
A health waiver lets a decision-maker grant a visa even though the applicant has not met the health requirement, where the visa attracts PIC 4007. It applies only to certain subclasses — most commonly partner, child and some family and humanitarian visas — and is a discretionary decision, not an entitlement.
What is the significant cost threshold?
The health requirement can be failed where a condition is estimated to cost more than a set ‘significant cost’ threshold in health and community services over the relevant period. The threshold is set by the Department and changes over time, so we confirm the figure current at your assessment date rather than quoting a fixed number. Figures current as at 3 July 2026 — confirm at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au.
Can I challenge the Medical Officer’s cost estimate?
The MOC’s opinion drives the outcome, and its assumptions about prognosis, care settings and service uptake can be addressed with independent medical and actuarial evidence. We assess whether the projection is fair and, where it is not, prepare evidence that puts a more accurate picture before the decision-maker.
Which visas allow a health waiver?
A waiver is available only where PIC 4007 applies rather than the stricter PIC 4005 — including partner, child and certain other family and humanitarian visas. See our health requirement guide for how the two criteria differ, and speak with us to confirm which applies to your specific visa.
What happens if the waiver is refused?
A health-based refusal can often be reviewed on its merits at the ART, and where the decision involved a legal error, by judicial review in the Federal Courts. Time limits are strict, so get advice as soon as you receive the decision.
A health refusal? Build the waiver
Bring your health assessment or the Department’s request for comment to a consultation, and we will map the waiver strategy, the evidence and the deadline — in plain language.