Required medical assessments for visa applicants: LIN 25/049

The Migration (Specification of Required Medical Assessment) Instrument 2025 was signed on 26 November 2025 by Dr Grant Pegg, Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Home Affairs, as delegate of the Minister, under paragraphs 4005(1)(aa) and 4007(1)(aa) of Schedule 4 to the Migration Regulations 1994. Section 2 sets its commencement at 29 November 2025. Item 1 of Schedule 6 repealed the previous instrument, IMMI 15/144.

The explanatory statement gives its purpose as specifying the mandatory immigration medical assessment health requirements that certain visa applicants must undertake to satisfy public interest criteria 4005 and 4007, by reference to their country of citizenship or residence, their intended period of stay and their intended activities. It also records that the 2025 changes reflect World Health Organization tuberculosis data that the Department adopts for visa purposes.

Which table applies

Section 6 sorts applicants by the countries or jurisdictions in which they are a citizen or have spent 3 or more consecutive months during the last 5 years. Section 7 then specifies the assessments:

• a person connected only with countries listed in column 1 of Schedule 1 (paragraph 6(a)) undertakes the assessments in columns 2 to 5 of Schedule 1;
• a person connected with a country not listed in Schedule 1 (paragraph 6(b)) undertakes the assessments in Schedule 2 and Schedule 3; and
• a person connected with both (paragraph 6(c)) also undertakes the assessments in Schedule 2 and Schedule 3.

Column 1 of Schedule 1 has 138 entries, from Aland Islands, Albania and American Samoa to Wallis and Futuna, and includes Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (British citizen) and the United States of America. The full list is in the instrument.

Assessments by length of stay and age

Schedule 1 (listed countries) requires no standard assessments for a temporary stay of up to six months or of six months or more, beyond any applicable additional assessments in column 5. For permanent and provisional visa applicants, column 4 requires:

Schedule 1, column 4 – permanent and provisional visa applicants

Age	Assessments
Under 11	Medical examination
11 to under 15	Medical examination, chest X-ray
15 or older	Medical examination, chest X-ray, serum creatinine/eGFR, HIV test, hepatitis B test if born in a high hepatitis B risk jurisdiction

Schedule 2 applies to a person not covered by Schedule 1. For a temporary stay of up to six months it requires only the applicable additional assessments in Schedule 3. For the other two columns it requires the following, plus any applicable Schedule 3 assessments:

Schedule 2, columns 3 and 4

Applicant	Age	Assessments
Temporary stay of six months or more	Under 11	Medical examination
Temporary stay of six months or more	11 to under 15	Medical examination, chest X-ray
Temporary stay of six months or more	15 or older	Medical examination, chest X-ray, serum creatinine/eGFR
Permanent and provisional visa	Under 2	Medical examination
Permanent and provisional visa	2 to under 11	Medical examination, TB screening
Permanent and provisional visa	11 to under 15	Medical examination, chest X-ray
Permanent and provisional visa	15 or older	Medical examination, chest X-ray, serum creatinine/eGFR, HIV test, hepatitis B test if born in a high hepatitis B risk jurisdiction

Section 4 defines a provisional visa as a temporary visa of a subclass in Schedule 4, which lists 16 subclasses, including 300, 309, 491, 494 and 820. A high hepatitis B risk jurisdiction is any country or jurisdiction not named in Schedule 5, which lists 129 low-risk countries and jurisdictions.

Additional assessments for health work, childcare, pregnancy and age

Schedule 3 adds assessments based on intended activities. For applicants from listed countries, column 5 of Schedule 1 sets additional assessments for four categories: childcare work, doctors, dentists, nurses and paramedics, pregnancy with intended birth in Australia, and visitors aged 75 or older.

Schedule 3 additional medical assessments

Item	Person	Assessments
1	Intends to work as, or study or train to be, a doctor, dentist, nurse or paramedic	Medical examination, chest X-ray, serum creatinine/eGFR, HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C tests and latent tuberculosis screening; the latent tuberculosis screening is not listed for a Subclass 600 (Visitor) applicant staying not more than 6 months
2	Intends to work as, or study or train to be, a health care worker in another health care profession, or to work in a health care or hospital environment, aged care or disability care facility	Medical examination, chest X-ray, serum creatinine/eGFR and latent tuberculosis screening; the latent tuberculosis screening is not listed for a Subclass 600 (Visitor) applicant staying not more than 6 months
3	Likely to work or be a trainee at an Australian childcare centre (including preschool and crèche)	Medical examination, chest X-ray, serum creatinine/eGFR
4	Likely to enter a health care or hospital environment	Medical examination, chest X-ray, serum creatinine/eGFR
5	Pregnant and intending to give birth in Australia	Hepatitis B test
6	At least 75 years old and applying for a Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa	Medical examination, serum creatinine/eGFR

Who conducts the assessments

Under section 8, an assessment conducted in Australia must be done by Bupa Australia Health Pty Ltd (trading as Bupa Medical Visa Services). An assessment conducted outside Australia must be done by a panel physician, which section 4 defines as a doctor or radiologist outside Australia who provides the services as part of the Australian Panel Physician Network under an arrangement with the Department. The note to section 8 records that paragraphs 4005(1)(aa) and 4007(1)(aa) apply unless a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth decides otherwise.