YES.. but not for a year though, they were holding my passport for 8 months and I just got it back a few days ago.. the reason being on a normal scenario they issue medical and passport request at the same time and if there arent any complications in your application, you will get your passport back with the visa within a month or two from the time you do your medicals.. in other cases, where there are complications, they may take longer.. the complication in my application was that I had lived in Australia and New Zealand for a year each and it took them time do background checks and these background checks are not done by NDVO .. they are done by 3rd party .. hope this helps .. cheers