Follow up examination RFE.

[thejoz 0]

Oh god. Okay.

Received a SECOND AOS RFE in the mail today:

The medical evaluation submitted with your form I-129F shows that a follow up examination is needed.

MEDICAL EXAMINATION (FORM I-693)

I-693 REPORT OF MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND VACCINATION RECORD

Please submit a properly completed and signed Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. The medical examination must be conducted by a physician who is on the list of Civil Surgeons approved by USCIS.

And then a load of blah about it needing to be an approved physician and how to find one in your area and whatever.

Okay, I had my medical examination in Knightsbridge Doctors in March last year. What do they mean by "follow up"? Does it mean there's something on my record to be worried about? At my original exam there was no problem at all; the only thing I DID mention was that, on the advice of my family doctor, I'd taken St. John's Wort for a couple of weeks to alleviate a general low mood, and that was no issue at all on the day at Knightsbridge. No other serious illness or period of hospitalization, no mental health issue, obviously no positive HIV or other blood test. Nothing.

I submitted my vaccination records from an approved surgeon for AOS and got the one thing I was missing, my first HPV.

Now. The only thing I can think of that I'm not up to date on, or rather haven't done the latest testing for, is the TB skin test. In London, they gave be a chest x-ray and that was it. I've had the BCG vaccine, and therefore a skin test WILL come up positive and I'll just need another x-ray anyway, no? Could this be what it is?

Also, I got my first HPV vaccine in July last year and didn't go back for follow ups as it's so damn expensive. Will I have to have the follow-up shots now?

I have until February 25th. Less than a freaking month. Can all this be done in this time? Help me; I'm freaking out.

Edited January 30, 2009 by thejoz

[Eric-Pris 1,607]

Did you include a form I-693 signed by a Civil Surgeon in your AOS packet?

That is a requirement. The medical exam you had in England was for the visa. Now, you need to have a medical form completed for AOS. You don't need to go through another exam if you had one in England less than 1 yr ago, but you must have your vaccinations completed and I-693 filled out.

Read the instructions (page 4, section III, #2.)

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-693instr.pdf

[thejoz 0]

Yes, I did. I included that, and my examination in the UK was in March, so less than a year ago. I submitted the vaccination portion only, because my medical in the UK was less than a year ago.

Which is why it's bull that I'm getting this again.

[Eric-Pris 1,607]

I would just resend what you sent them originally. They either lost it or don't know they have it.

[thejoz 0]

I would just resend what you sent them originally. They either lost it or don't know they have it.

I would just resend what you sent them originally. They either lost it or don't know they have it.

But how can we be sure of that?

See, again, we did this before, and there are potentially two medical issues that might actually be of importance to USCIS, but we don't know that because the f*cking letter doesn't say WHY they want this again, just that they want it again.

1) Does it matter, at all, about the TB test or not? My wife thinks it's some way to potentially extort more money out of us by making her get the test, which would come up positive due to the BCG-TB vaccine and then she'd need another chest X-ray, which would inevitably come up clear, because, shock and horror, she doesn't have tuberculosis.

2) Does it matter, at all, that my wife got the for-God-only-knows-why "required' HPV vaccine, the first course, but has not yet had courses 2 and 3? Again, we're both broke, and while that officially may not be an excuse for the government, it's bullsh*t that they are making a married woman who has never even had multiple partners worry about having some damn vaccine that is being marketed to little freaking girls as a form of STD protection. We don't really believe she needs it in the first place, but that aside, we'd have done it by now if we could've afforded it.

Someone, anyone, with any real knowledge on this would be useful. I mean, we were only given essentially three weeks to do this, and as it stands now, we could go right back to the civil surgeon, tell him we need this again, and we cannot truthfully tell him or his office why the hell we need it done again.

A phone number was listed on this thing. 1-800-375-5283. Does anyone know if calling this number will actually get me any more information about why they sent us this RFE? Cause if they can simply tell us they don't have the information, like, they lost it, we'll be more than happy to go back down there and get another 693 filled out and done. If they want her to get more vaccines, we'll do that. We'll do, more or less, whatever they need so she can be approved, but we'd like to bloody well know what it is exactly they want.

Please excuse my temperament in this post, I am suitably irritated.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Now. The only thing I can think of that I'm not up to date on, or rather haven't done the latest testing for, is the TB skin test. In London, they gave be a chest x-ray and that was it. I've had the BCG vaccine, and therefore a skin test WILL come up positive and I'll just need another x-ray anyway, no? Could this be what it is?

Just a quick note mate, I'm from the UK, and like you and I had the BCG when I was young, and as such was expecting a positive result from the skin test. Well, I had it earlier this week, and got a perfect 0mm reading. So don't assume a past BCG will register a postive (that is to say in excess of 5mm) test, OK?

As for your situation, well I'd just bite the bullet and get the test, and any subsequent X-rays done, and to hell with the expense - it'll be worth it, right?

[thejoz 0]

Now. The only thing I can think of that I'm not up to date on, or rather haven't done the latest testing for, is the TB skin test. In London, they gave be a chest x-ray and that was it. I've had the BCG vaccine, and therefore a skin test WILL come up positive and I'll just need another x-ray anyway, no? Could this be what it is?

Just a quick note mate, I'm from the UK, and like you and I had the BCG when I was young, and as such was expecting a positive result from the skin test. Well, I had it earlier this week, and got a perfect 0mm reading. So don't assume a past BCG will register a postive (that is to say in excess of 5mm) test, OK?

As for your situation, well I'd just bite the bullet and get the test, and any subsequent X-rays done, and to hell with the expense - it'll be worth it, right?

Is that so? Well, maybe that will happen for me too. But I've heard enough people say they had to have it again, got a positive and then needed an xray. So I'm not holding out a whole lot of hope.

Of course we'll have to incur expenses if necessary, but hate the idea of getting a load of pointless retests for stuff that I had in the last year, as per their instructions.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Is that so? Well, maybe that will happen for me too. But I've heard enough people say they had to have it again, got a positive and then needed an xray. So I'm not holding out a whole lot of hope.

Of course we'll have to incur expenses if necessary, but hate the idea of getting a load of pointless retests for stuff that I had in the last year, as per their instructions.

I hear ya, and it would piss me off too. What I find particularly irritating, is that the famous Dr Arnold (you know, the one that'll do the transcriptions for $30) has thus far refused to transcribe TST test results onto the I-693 along with the vaccinations - go figure. I'm gonna send a begging letter when it's time for me to send my ###### to her!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Call the information number given, explain the circumstances and ask to speak to an immigration officer (the people who answer the line are call center personnel and not immigration officers). It could be that they want the whole medical report with the vaccination part only filled out OR it could be that they have lost the medical and need to have it resent. There have been others in this situation who did not send in the medical because it had been submitted with the K-1 and their applications were denied. It was a challenge to re-open it, so do your best to find out if they have lost/misplaced or don't have your medical (in which case they did lose it even if they won't admit it) and if so, be prepared to submit the whole thing again. I doubt it is the TB issue or the booster shots issue otherwise those would have been itemized. What they have said is the whole 693 which really makes me think they have misplaced the original.

Edited January 31, 2009 by Kathryn41

[JeremyR 8]

It's totally unacceptable the USCIS won't tell you exactly what aspect needs following up. How are you supposed to find out? :angry:

Just a thought though, could it be the varicella/chickenpox vaccination series that's missing? It (or a positive antibody test) is a requirement for - I believe - pretty much everyone adjusting status. However, the jab is not available in Britain so you have to wait until you get here before you can get it done. It's two jabs, thirty days apart (so my Dr tells me)...

[joyce_peter 1]

i also got an rfe last jan 9,2009.they asked for completed I-693 form...so we went again to the civil surgeon and then they said i had to do the tb skin test and then they did also a blood test then thats it..they filled up all the part two and then part five...then i sent back my rfe reply last jan 22 and they got it last jan 24,then to day i got an email saying card production ordered...gudluck!

[thejoz 0]

i also got an rfe last jan 9,2009.they asked for completed I-693 form...so we went again to the civil surgeon and then they said i had to do the tb skin test and then they did also a blood test then thats it..they filled up all the part two and then part five...then i sent back my rfe reply last jan 22 and they got it last jan 24,then to day i got an email saying card production ordered...gudluck!

Hi, just for clarification's sake, since your timeline doesn't reflect this;

Did you mean that all this just occurred this month? (Jan 2009) or somehow did you mean January 2008?

Just a thought though, could it be the varicella/chickenpox vaccination series that's missing? It (or a positive antibody test) is a requirement for - I believe - pretty much everyone adjusting status. However, the jab is not available in Britain so you have to wait until you get here before you can get it done. It's two jabs, thirty days apart (so my Dr tells me)...

My wife informs me that she's already had chicken pox, and as such didn't need a vaccine. This is interesting though.

Call the information number given, explain the circumstances and ask to speak to an immigration officer (the people who answer the line are call center personnel and not immigration officers). It could be that they want the whole medical report with the vaccination part only filled out OR it could be that they have lost the medical and need to have it resent. There have been others in this situation who did not send in the medical because it had been submitted with the K-1 and their applications were denied. It was a challenge to re-open it, so do your best to find out if they have lost/misplaced or don't have your medical (in which case they did lose it even if they won't admit it) and if so, be prepared to submit the whole thing again. I doubt it is the TB issue or the booster shots issue otherwise those would have been itemized. What they have said is the whole 693 which really makes me think they have misplaced the original.

We definitely did send in this information, so. Quite honestly if they did misplace it that would be just fine, we just want to make sure that this sh*t gets on the road!

Thank you three specifically, you have all made us feel better about this situation.

[JeremyR 8]

Just a thought though, could it be the varicella/chickenpox vaccination series that's missing? It (or a positive antibody test) is a requirement for - I believe - pretty much everyone adjusting status. However, the jab is not available in Britain so you have to wait until you get here before you can get it done. It's two jabs, thirty days apart (so my Dr tells me)...

My wife informs me that she's already had chicken pox, and as such didn't need a vaccine. This is interesting though.

But specifically, what did Knightsbridge Doctors write on the DS3025 vaccination supplement? I've had the chickenpox too but when it came to the varicella line on the vaccination supplement, there's no tick box for 'already had chickenpox, vaccination not required' and as such, they left the line blank. Almost certainly at some point, I'm going to be required to submit a new I-693 vaccination sheet showing that I'm the proud owner of a set of chickenpox antibodies. Thus far, I haven't been RFE'd but honestly, I'm waiting for it...

[thejoz 0]

But specifically, what did Knightsbridge Doctors write on the DS3025 vaccination supplement? I've had the chickenpox too but when it came to the varicella line on the vaccination supplement, there's no tick box for 'already had chickenpox, vaccination not required' and as such, they left the line blank. Almost certainly at some point, I'm going to be required to submit a new I-693 vaccination sheet showing that I'm the proud owner of a set of chickenpox antibodies. Thus far, I haven't been RFE'd but honestly, I'm waiting for it...

Okay, let's see *fishes out vaccination worksheet that you get to keep*

For the varicella, they marked it VH, meaning "Varicella History", according to the information above the check boxes. They asked me (this is the wife speaking here) if I'd already had chickenpox; I confirmed that I had, and they marked "VH" accordingly. So yes, there is a specific option to mark down varicella history.

Now, it's possible that the civil surgeon failed to mark that properly when he wrote up my exam history for AOS, but as that was put in the sealed envelope, I didn't see it. We went down to see him and told him that we only needed the vaccinations section marked as I'd had the full exam within the last year, and (unlike some I've heard about!) he didn't try to sell us a full, unnecessary exam again, but simply took all my vaccine info and the I-693, marked everything up later that day, and we collected it at the end of the day. I didn't have an interview with him as such as I didn't need any tests, so it's possible he messed something up, I guess.

Edited January 31, 2009 by thejoz

[thejoz 0]

Okay we need some more assistance if any can be given,

I just called the idiot line given to us on the RFE, the 1-800-375-5283.

Someone previously said in this thread about asking for an immigration officer to get information about this case, yet there was no discernible option to do so via this phone number. All it was was a system of automated menus that told us exactly what we already know, and none of what we need to know.

To reiterate, we really want to know exactly what they want us to send/resend, since we did in fact send the I-693 with our original application.

Anyone who can help provide further light on this, please advise ASAP, as time is of the essence...