Question about the upcoming medical exam

[Thijs 0]

Hi all,

I have my medical exam for the K-1 visa coming up on august 16th. Now there's not really anything I'm worried about, except on the form DS-3026 there is question 2, the physical examination.

There's a bunch of boxes for certain subjects that the physician needs to tick ("normal", "abnormal", and "not done").

One part in particularly worries me.

"Skin (Including hypopigmentation, anesthesia, findings consistent with self-inflicted injury or injections)"

The thing is, when I was about 17 or 18 I've cut myself on the arm on several occasions. Some scar tissue can be seen there, but it was never a cause for going to the hospital or for getting any kind of phyciatric help (psychiatrist, mental hospital etc.). Nor was it any attempt to end my life. After a while I just stopped doing it and didn't do it again.

Anyways, could this render me ineligible for a K-1 visa? I'm a bit in 2 minds about this, as telling the truth (when asked) might render me ineligible, while the risk of lying and being ineligible over that is simply unacceptable.

Does anyone have any idea what might be the outcome of this?

Thank you.

[bszoom42 0]

If I were you, I would be honest and forthright at the medical.

The fact that something is ticked "abnormal" does not necessarily preclude you from entry, and as long as you are honest with the physician and the embassy, then the embassy should be able to make the appropriate decision based on the facts.

Be careful not to fall into the trap of trying to hide the issue, as that may backfire and cause the embassy to have grounds to exclude you from gaining entry to the US.

[zinger143 3]

What they are going to be looking for is abnormalities related to drugs, many people have scar tissue and things of the sort. What is going to trigger a red flag is if the scars look like they are directly from self abuse, in which I'm not sure the nature of your scars. They are also going to be looking at how old they are, and if this is a reoccurring injury, aka how much of your body does it cover, how fresh are the wounds, etc. The physician is not going to care about your mental state. Not to sound cruel, but they really are pretty cut and dry, they only deal with the information they have too and pass the buck to someone else. I understand you don't want to lie, and I'm in no way saying you should; however, there is only so much information the doctor needs to know. You can simply state it was a teenage injury back from when you were 17. If they asks how that happened, which I doubt they will, then you can elaborate that you had cut yourself, it was a one time thing, stupid teenage situation, downplay the past action and emphasize how you have grown from that experience and learned to handle your emotions/feelings in a productive way. It is all about how you phrase things and your confidence. But chances are they aren't going to ask you to elaborate, the doctor isn't there for that, they are just passing you along as a healthy individual.

Hi all,

I have my medical exam for the K-1 visa coming up on august 16th. Now there's not really anything I'm worried about, except on the form DS-3026 there is question 2, the physical examination.

There's a bunch of boxes for certain subjects that the physician needs to tick ("normal", "abnormal", and "not done").

One part in particularly worries me.

"Skin (Including hypopigmentation, anesthesia, findings consistent with self-inflicted injury or injections)"

The thing is, when I was about 17 or 18 I've cut myself on the arm on several occasions. Some scar tissue can be seen there, but it was never a cause for going to the hospital or for getting any kind of phyciatric help (psychiatrist, mental hospital etc.). Nor was it any attempt to end my life. After a while I just stopped doing it and didn't do it again.

Anyways, could this render me ineligible for a K-1 visa? I'm a bit in 2 minds about this, as telling the truth (when asked) might render me ineligible, while the risk of lying and being ineligible over that is simply unacceptable.

Does anyone have any idea what might be the outcome of this?

Thank you.

[Raspect 0]

If I were you, I would be honest and forthright at the medical.

The fact that something is ticked "abnormal" does not necessarily preclude you from entry, and as long as you are honest with the physician and the embassy, then the embassy should be able to make the appropriate decision based on the facts.

Be careful not to fall into the trap of trying to hide the issue, as that may backfire and cause the embassy to have grounds to exclude you from gaining entry to the US.

If I wer you, I would ignore this advice, and tell the physician that this was an "injury" that happened when you were a teen, not a "self-inflicted injury". If they say what happened, just say you got cut in an accident. DO NOT LIE, just don't say "self-inflicted". It is not worth having them maybe cause you lot of delays and pain. But do not lie, just say it was and teenage injury. From an accident. all would be the truth. AND obviously I have not seen your marks, so I cant say for sure, but if not so severe, keep your answer simple too.

[Thijs 0]

Thanks for the replies. Here's some pictures of the scars.

As you can see they are not too big, but the story "I fell on a roll of barbed-wire once" (as I was thinking of telling) won't really work well.

[Thijs 0]

Well, I just had my medical done today, no questions asked

thanks everyone

[bszoom42 0]

Congratulations!