How long for results of medical if you need to pick them up? (Sydney)

[turtlegirl 6]

My fiancé lives in Tassie and has to travel to get the medical. Since he also has to travel for the interview, we are hoping that we could plan for one trip where he could get the medical done and then pick up the results and then take them to his interview. Does anyone know what the turn around time for getting the results of the medical is? I know that the interviews for K1 visas are on Tuesdays, and he would have to schedule his interview time and then schedule his medical around (obviously before) that- but I don't know how much time is needed for the results. I can have him call, but the more information I can give him before hand, the better things will go, lol. He's a bit overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork, etc., so I'm trying to make things easier for him if I can.

Any advice or information anyone has about this would be very much appreciated!

[Alex&Amy 28]

Not sure how long it takes to get results, they will forward them direct to consulate though. What I do know is the current wait time in Sydney for a medical is around 1 month. I called a week ago and got the soonest available appointment which was June 25th.

[Adrian_Trischa 6]

My fiancé lives in Tassie and has to travel to get the medical. Since he also has to travel for the interview, we are hoping that we could plan for one trip where he could get the medical done and then pick up the results and then take them to his interview. Does anyone know what the turn around time for getting the results of the medical is? I know that the interviews for K1 visas are on Tuesdays, and he would have to schedule his interview time and then schedule his medical around (obviously before) that- but I don't know how much time is needed for the results. I can have him call, but the more information I can give him before hand, the better things will go, lol. He's a bit overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork, etc., so I'm trying to make things easier for him if I can.

Any advice or information anyone has about this would be very much appreciated!

It's not so much the turn around of results that you have to worry about.

In order for you to have the interview you must submit the Packet 3 which is either inclusive of the medical/sent directly too the consulate. The consulate will review your Packet 3 documents to ensure everything is in order. They will then contact you with "Packet 4" which will outline when you're interview time and dates are. Lately from what I've read, this has been approximately a month after the consulates receipt of Packet 3.

So what I'm basically saying is I don't think it will be possible for you to expect to get a Packet 4 until they have received this. He most likely will have to do two trips a pain, I know.

[Lainie B 465]

I believe the Sydney consulate can be flexible - if there is something missing from your Packet 3 (such as your medical results) then you can bring it the day of the interview.

Here is a post from someone who did something similar to what you are proposing:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/414753-sydney-medical/

I would suggest contacting the Sydney doctor and asking how long the results will take. It will take at least a few days I think.

However I think his biggest problem is going to be booking an appointment to coincide with his interview. If he has to make an appointment a month ahead then he may not be able to time for the same trip to Sydney as your interview, especially if they only give you a week or two's notice for the interview. Because of this I don't know that he will be able to do the interview and doctor's appointment on the same trip.

Is there any way he can take a separate trip to Melbourne and see the doctor there?

[Alex&Amy 28]

I believe the Sydney consulate can be flexible - if there is something missing from your Packet 3 (such as your medical results) then you can bring it the day of the interview.

Here is a post from someone who did something similar to what you are proposing:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/414753-sydney-medical/

I would suggest contacting the Sydney doctor and asking how long the results will take. It will take at least a few days I think.

However I think his biggest problem is going to be booking an appointment to coincide with his interview. If he has to make an appointment a month ahead then he may not be able to time for the same trip to Sydney as your interview, especially if they only give you a week or two's notice for the interview. Because of this I don't know that he will be able to do the interview and doctor's appointment on the same trip.

Is there any way he can take a separate trip to Melbourne and see the doctor there?

Do they need to have recieved the medical results in order to give you a date for an interview? My understanding of the Australia process was medical was provided before interview, not with the packet 3... But I might be wrong.

[turtlegirl 6]

I believe the Sydney consulate can be flexible - if there is something missing from your Packet 3 (such as your medical results) then you can bring it the day of the interview.

Here is a post from someone who did something similar to what you are proposing:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/414753-sydney-medical/

I would suggest contacting the Sydney doctor and asking how long the results will take. It will take at least a few days I think.

However I think his biggest problem is going to be booking an appointment to coincide with his interview. If he has to make an appointment a month ahead then he may not be able to time for the same trip to Sydney as your interview, especially if they only give you a week or two's notice for the interview. Because of this I don't know that he will be able to do the interview and doctor's appointment on the same trip.

Is there any way he can take a separate trip to Melbourne and see the doctor there?

Yes, I had read this post and had hoped we could do something similar, although they were doing a different visa type, it's basically the same process. I'm hoping that the doctor's office would be flexible with us if we explain our situation- financially it's just not the best thing for him to make 2 trips. I won't say it's impossible, because we wouldn't have gotten where we are now by using that word, but it would be a pretty big hardship for us. I suppose if we get notice from the Consulate with the interview date and it's before he can get in for a medical, we could request that the interview date be pushed back some, couldn't we? If we explained the situation to the Consulate?

I know that they will schedule your interview without certain things from Packet 3, as long as you provide them at the interview, and even if you don't bring them to the interview (like the medical results for whatever reason) then they will just postpone issuing the visa until you send them the information they need. But no one wants to go to the interview and then have to send more info, lol. They want to be done and done!

Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions! I guess we need to call the doctor's office and find out what the turn around time is for results first. And then wait to be scheduled for an interview and try to get an appointment around that time and go from there. I really wish I was there in Australia to help my fiancé with all this because I know explaining who he needs to call and what he needs to ask is going to add to his stress level, which is already pretty high. He and paperwork do not mesh well together, lol. Too bad the doctor's office didn't have e-mail, that would solve everything!

[riss 12]

From memory my medical results were mailed out to me within a week or 10 days. Maybe it would be a good idea to email the Consulate and explain the situation, and just confirm that it's okay for your fiance to have his interview first while the medical results are still on their way. I have heard of a lot of people having to provide something after the interview and it not being a big deal. One guy had to provide a co-sponsorship letter, which he sent in by email after the interview and then the visa was issued. In my case my fiance had emailed in a letter asking for an extension of time for us to send in Packet 3, and they couldn't find it, so they said at my interview that they needed us to resend that letter before they could issue the visa. I sent it in that night when I got home and my visa was issued a couple of days later.

The consulate can postpone interview dates if need be, but when I contacted them about it, they didn't make it really easy for you to pick and choose. I had asked for a later appointment as they gave me a 9 a.m. one and I had been hoping to be able to travel by plane on the morning rather than staying overnight. They said to me that if I couldn't make it they could cancel that appointment and just send me a new one when something came up at a later timeslot - but it wasn't like there would be any negotiation or that I would get to necessarily request/select a date that worked for me.

In my case I got the email with my appointment time about a month before the appointment, so if that happens for you, it might not be too hard to schedule the medical to coincide.

[turtlegirl 6]

Thanks Riss! That makes me feel better that we will work something out about it. If we have to wait for the medical results to get to the consulate, then that's what we'll have to do. Hopefully they'll be scheduling a month out or the doctor will be accommodating and we'll get lucky. But any way it happens we'll figure it out. I just prefer to be informed/forewarned when possible. My fiancé has an uncle who lives in Sydney so he and his mum will be going there to visit anyway so staying a few days isn't a problem, but it's rather hard for him to come from Tassie more than once. Even if it's to Melbourne for the medical. I'm talking to him tomorrow, so I will let him know what the situation is and go from there. I wish they still did medicals in Hobart, but sadly they no longer do that. It just makes it extra hard for the people who live further away to get these things done. It does say on the Consulate website that people who do not live near the medical centers can have their medicals scheduled for the same day as their interview in Sydney and have the results mailed in later. So you would think they would be understanding about scheduling. *fingers crossed* Of course I can't contact them really about anything until I get my case number. I'm going to call NVC this week to see if it's arrived yet.

[riss 12]

I'm sure you could call the doctors' offices and ask them about wait times/scheduling even without a case number. In Melbourne the doctor most of us saw didn't even need us to have case numbers to do the exam itself.

[riss 12]

Oh sorry, you were saying you can't contact the Consulate without a case number? I think you probably can, the questions are generic questions after all, the answers should be the same regardless of who you are.