Hepatitis B and Immigration/visa issues

Dear @Dane ,

Thanks for the question and welcome to the community. I have created a new topic here because I think it’s an important issue that affects many people and it’s worth having it easily searchable.

Regarding migration, it is difficult to say right now.

For most people with Hepatitis B, it usually will not make you less eligible for a visa in Australia, but can make it more difficult. There are special considerations if you do want to work in healthcare. I am definitely not an expert in migration law and I think you might need specific support.

I would love for any Australian experts, who might have more experience in this to provide some additional input. (@simone.strasser, @MarkDouglas, @jessica.howell, @stao, @Nafisa.Yussf). Maybe @YellowWarriorsPH from the Philippines could also help in this case?

I could find the following resources that might help:

Hepatitis B is not considered a public health threat to the Australian community. However, it might be considered a threat when the applicant intends to work in healthcare and undertake exposure-prone procedures where there is a risk of contact between the worker’s blood and a patient’s open tissue. If this is a consideration, it is advisable that the applicant consults a viral hepatitis specialist experienced in the management of infected health care workers. The Department will seek a report from a prospective employer or institution about whether a person would be involved in exposure-prone procedures before a visa decision is made.

We generally don’t consider HIV or hepatitis to be a threat to public health. But if you have HIV or hepatitis and you apply for a temporary visa, we might consider your condition to be a threat to public health if you intend to work as (or study to become) a doctor, nurse, dentist or paramedic in Australia.

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