Am I correct?

[mendeleev 68]

1. Is it true that K applicants may demand to defer any required vaccinations until after arrival in the USA?

2. Is it true that CR visa applicants (or K visa holders who are adjusting status) may refuse to submit to vaccinations that, according to the CDC guidelines, are age inappropriate, or does the attending doctor have authority to override the guidelines?

3. If an applicant withholds permission for nonrequired vaccinations, is the clinic required to provide a report to the embassy anyway, or can they play hardball and refuse to supply documents?

I am asking after the fact, perhaps to gain information for future applicants. My wife was given an age-inappropriate MMR vaccination and appears to have developed a full-blown case of rubella from it The clinic insisted on giving the age-inappropriate vaccination on Sept 10.

[YuAndDan 153]

1. K-1 is a NON-Immigrant, and as a NON-Immigrant are not required to have vaccinations before traveling to the USA.

2. The doctor knows which vaccinations are age appropriate and will only do the ones needed.

3. Again K-Visas do not need vaccinations for interview, CR-1/IR-1 Visas DO need vaccinations before interview because they are IMMIGRANTS that receive permanent resident status upon entry to the USA.

[mendeleev 68]

2. The doctor knows which vaccinations are age appropriate and will only do the ones needed.

YuandDan, you are too trusting. The CDC vaccination guidelines clearly state that MMR vaccinations are required for individuals born in 1957 or later. My wife was born in 1956. This fact was discussed with the physician at the clinic in Moscow who insisted on performing a MMR vaccination on an unwilling individual applying for a K visa.

[raymaga 25]

I was born in 1956, and was not required to have any age-inappropriate vaccinations for my K-1 medical.

[YuAndDan 153]

2. The doctor knows which vaccinations are age appropriate and will only do the ones needed.

YuandDan, you are too trusting. The CDC vaccination guidelines clearly state that MMR vaccinations are required for individuals born in 1957 or later. My wife was born in 1956. This fact was discussed with the physician at the clinic in Moscow who insisted on performing a MMR vaccination on an unwilling individual applying for a K visa.

Get them done in the USA the Civil Surgeon is more familiar with the CDC requirements, than a doctor in foreign country.

[mendeleev 68]

www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/pdf/ti-03/tbl1-cs-clrd.pdf

Here's a link to CDC "Requirements for routine vaccination of adjustment of status applicants examined in the United States ..."

While YuandDan confirm my understanding of my first and third questions, his "doctor knows best" answer is partly amusing and partly, in my experience, in contradiction with published CDC requirements, as posted above.

My questions are, how enforceable are the "rights" of a K applicant to defer vaccination given a push foreign examining clinic and how enforceable are the "rights" of all applicants to demand that they not be subjected to age-inappropriate vaccinations?

[mendeleev 68]

I was born in 1956, and was not required to have any age-inappropriate vaccinations for my K-1 medical.

I am glad you had a different experience. Perhaps Canada is somewhat different than Russia in this connection.

The doctors in Novosibirsk regard my wife's case as a full-blown case of rubella, possibly viably communicable. My (step)-daughter-in-law, who lives nearby, and who has been exposed, could be pregnant. My wife's rubella presented itself on the 14th day after the inappropriate vaccination at the embassy-required clinic in Moscow. The incubation period is apparently up to 22 days.

The clinic intimated that noncompliance with their demand that she comply with this vaccination might result in their inability to issue the medical report. So, she complied.

I have questions on this matter outstanding at the embassy in Moscow.

Edited September 29, 2007 by novotul

[Dakine 26]

I'm no kid and have been thru a lot of health issues over the years.

As a result I don't trust doctors much more than I trust attorneys.

Been prescripted medicines numerous times only to find out thru Google they weren't compatible BIGTIME with another one I was already taking for something else.

Most doctors don't even check when they give you a prescription.

Watch out for the medicines doctors give you from their own stash also. Lots of the time they are expired.

Edited September 29, 2007 by beckypua

[Mags 112]

In the UK the doctors there were insisting on K-1s having all of the vaccinations required for their age. They were not given the choice to have them at AOS stage.

I don't know if this is still the case but this was what was going on at around the time I was going through this stage of the process.

[mendeleev 68]

Thanks, Mags. So it is not a Russia-specific issue. I thought it might be a bit more widespread.

But at least the UK docs limited themselves to age-appropriate vaccinations. There was a 84-year-old woman (going for a CR-5) who got a MMR the day we were at the clinic, too. I'm pretty sure a 84-yr-old was born long before 1956!

There are two overlapping issues here that border on (or cross the line over into) abuse of authority. I hope more replies come.