People between NOA2 and Interview ~2009~

[*julez* 124]

I've just been down to my local surgery and have been given the Tdap and MMR vaccinations. However the nurse said to me that I will need a MMR booster in one month time since the first shot isn't strong enough. Has anyone else had this explanation given to them because I thought having just the one would be sufficient.

Have you had an MMR vaccination before? If not you need two vaccinations before it is fully effective. I had my first in 1994 and the second one a couple weeks ago. The nurse didn't say anything about going back for another so my second must have been my 'booster'.

No, I've only ever had MR vaccination so thats probably why I need the two. But needing to wait a month apart, much prefer to get it out of the way sooner.

With vaccines its best to wait 4 weeks between the jabs. Its what they do for babies too.

[Bob and Patricia 0]

Pat and I went for her medical yesterday. She lives in Manchester so we decided to take the train rather then spend all day in the car. This is our route and the costs we incurred.

Her appt was for 14:00 at the Knightsbridge Doctors at Bentinck Street (West End) branch. We caught the Virgin Tain from Manchester Piccadilly at 10:35, arriving at Euston London at approx. 12:40. Standard class (coach) cost us £66.19 for the two one-way tickets.

At Euston Station we purchased a pair of zone 1 day passes for £11.10. We picked up the tube on the Victoria (Blue) line south. We took that to the 2nd stop where we transfered to the Central (Red) line west. We got off the red line at Bond street which is the first stop.

On foot, we made a short right on Oxford Street, (where the Bond street station empties), and then turned left on Marylebone Lane. The doctor's offices were located facing Bentinck Street, and in the SE corner of Bentinck Street and Marylebone Lane.

I'll leave Pat to give a review of her experiences at the Doctor's.

While we were in London, we wanted to use part of the time as a reconnaissance run for Pat's embassy interview. We needed to make sure we knew where the embassy was located. And, as we'd prolly be coming down the night before her interview, we wanted to find a reasonably priced hotel. We didn't have a local street map so I tried using my mobile phone with GPS and Google maps. It routed us to the embassy but only after taking a longgggg 2.5 mile hike out of our way.

We stopped at a local pub for dinner and made our way back to Manchester via the tube and Virgin rail.

The return rail trip was £68.00 for the pair of tickets. It would have been £58.00 but we opted for first class for this trip. It was nice ride with big seats, drinks, sandwiches, fruit, and WiFI internet access.

Here are some links for further info.

Knightsbridge Doctors (Use Map B )

Underground (tube) maps

Virgin Trains

[Talyss 0]

two doses of MMR is the UK schedule to be considered fully immunized, this is because only 90% of people fully seroconvert after the first MMR so to develop effective herd immunity of 99% they give 2 doses. Of course that is all based on the reccommendations for children and young people because there is no reccommendation for immunizing all adults for MMR in the UK. The US schedule is 1 dose if you didn't have it as a child.

I had never had MMR and had my 1 dose done at the medical (as I didn't have a GP at the time) and the doctor signed my vaccines off as complete, so if you are putting off booking the medical until after you get the second dose I don't think you'll need to.

from the US CDC detailed guidance

Persons born in 1957 or later (especially those born outsidethe U.S.) should receive at least 1 dose of MMR if there isno serologic proof of immunity or documentation of a dose given on or after the first birthday

[JimandChristy 1,689]

two doses of MMR is the UK schedule to be considered fully immunized, this is because only 90% of people fully seroconvert after the first MMR so to develop effective herd immunity of 99% they give 2 doses. Of course that is all based on the reccommendations for children and young people because there is no reccommendation for immunizing all adults for MMR in the UK. The US schedule is 1 dose if you didn't have it as a child.

I had never had MMR and had my 1 dose done at the medical (as I didn't have a GP at the time) and the doctor signed my vaccines off as complete, so if you are putting off booking the medical until after you get the second dose I don't think you'll need to.

from the US CDC detailed guidance

Persons born in 1957 or later (especially those born outsidethe U.S.) should receive at least 1 dose of MMR if there isno serologic proof of immunity or documentation of a dose given on or after the first birthday

So what's the recommendation, should I call my surgery tomorrow and decline the booster since the one dose is sufficient for the medical examination or have it anyway?

[JimandChristy 1,689]

I've just completed all of the DS forms, that took ages! Why the need for all of these forms when they are basically asking the same thing time and time again, I don't know. Anyway just one query and that is about the form DS-230, do I need to send in part II of this form (Question on there about whether you want a SSN when you arrive etc etc) with the packet 3 or do I take this part to the interview with me?

[Nik+Heather 121]

I've just completed all of the DS forms, that took ages! Why the need for all of these forms when they are basically asking the same thing time and time again, I don't know. Anyway just one query and that is about the form DS-230, do I need to send in part II of this form (Question on there about whether you want a SSN when you arrive etc etc) with the packet 3 or do I take this part to the interview with me?

I think that if you were to compare all the information requested on all the forms you'd find that All forms ask for info A, B, C, D, E....

But one asks for info X not included in others

And another for info Y not included in others

And a third for info Z not included in others...

They are multi-purposing these forms across several different visa types.

I thought you only did part 1 for the DS-230? Read your instructions again, I don't think the rest is needed.

[JimandChristy 1,689]

I've just completed all of the DS forms, that took ages! Why the need for all of these forms when they are basically asking the same thing time and time again, I don't know. Anyway just one query and that is about the form DS-230, do I need to send in part II of this form (Question on there about whether you want a SSN when you arrive etc etc) with the packet 3 or do I take this part to the interview with me?

I think that if you were to compare all the information requested on all the forms you'd find that All forms ask for info A, B, C, D, E....

But one asks for info X not included in others

And another for info Y not included in others

And a third for info Z not included in others...

They are multi-purposing these forms across several different visa types.

I thought you only did part 1 for the DS-230? Read your instructions again, I don't think the rest is needed.

OK Thanks

I have also just noticed that there is another form required for this process and its the DS-2001 but to me it just looks like the IV-15 checklist Is this necessary?

Edited April 15, 2009 by JimandChristy

[Talyss 0]

So what's the recommendation, should I call my surgery tomorrow and decline the booster since the one dose is sufficient for the medical examination or have it anyway?

up to you - depends on whether you want the maximum chance of immunity or whether you are just getting the jab because you need it for AOS.

If you do opt to have the booster you should wait at least 4 weeks before having it as an earleier poster mentioned, any earlier and it may not boost your immune system sufficiently to give you the maximum coverage.

[MonkeyJuice 3]

I had my medical on 30th March. I went to my GP on 27th & he gave me the Diptheria, Tetanus & polio jab. He wouldn't give me the MMR as he thought I would overdose!!

So when I got to the medical the nurse was absolutely fine about it. She gave me a form to get my GP to stamp once I had the MMR (as its FOC in UK) so that I could hand it in at AOS stage. No problems..don't worry.

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

OK Thanks

I have also just noticed that there is another form required for this process and its the DS-2001 but to me it just looks like the IV-15 checklist Is this necessary?

Ye-ees. It's one of the required forms so do send it in .

Magpie.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

So what's the recommendation, should I call my surgery tomorrow and decline the booster since the one dose is sufficient for the medical examination or have it anyway?

If you're just one booster away from everything complete, I would recommend getting it if your schedule works out so that you can have it before your medical at Knightsbridge. Reason: They will give you a copy of your form DS3025 to take with you to the US. Alot of people are debating the immunization bit of AOS. You don't have to have the medical again, but some instructions say to have a US Civil Surgeon fill in the immunization section of the medical form I-693 and sign off on it and seal it. There's alot of conflicting information and the USCIS FAQs have been changing but aren't absolutely clear. (TB & Immunization info)

Most people can't find a Civil Surgeon who will do that for a nominal fee. Many insist they have to do the whole medical again and charge in the hundreds of dollars. Many send their records to a Civil Surgeon in Austin TX, who will do it for $30. If you have shots that you have to complete in the US, then you definitely have to pay a Civil Surgeon. The new I-693 medical form is supposed to be required for visa medicals after June 1, 2008.

So now to my point. We decided not to pay a Civil Surgeon or have a TB skin test. We just mailed in the DS3025 from Knightsbridge and no RFE ever came and the green card was received. People used to do that, but the link I gave seems to indicate that the rules changed June 1 and you must do an I-693, even if it's just to copy your vaccinations to a different form. I know of others who have done the same thing we did and have their green cards in hand. So, if you have every jab needed on the form from Knightsbridge, you could probably send that in and be successful without paying more money to a CS in the US. I thought it was worth the gamble and it worked out for Nick. Now other people who did the same are starting to report success with the DS3025. So that's why getting that booster recorded could save you time and money later.

Here's a few selected posts on Civil Surgeon problems.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...l=civil+surgeon

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...l=civil+surgeon

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...l=civil+surgeon

[Marty J 0]

I had only ever had an MR shot, and had my first MMR before my medical.

The DS-3025 the doctor gave me says that I have completed the course for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella.

No one has mentioned anything to me about needing to get a second MMR.

[MARM 7]

I think his appointment is at 1:30 pm. I'm sorry you haven't heard anything new..but hopefully someone is working on it!

My fiance's appointment is at 9:30 AM. He got the earliest available as soon as they were going to give him the appointment...hoping that it may speed up sending the results to the embassy---that is if he is interviewed on April 28 and we do not postpone the date.

Edited April 16, 2009 by MARM

[Talyss 0]

I had only ever had an MR shot, and had my first MMR before my medical.

The DS-3025 the doctor gave me says that I have completed the course for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella.

No one has mentioned anything to me about needing to get a second MMR.

You don't! For adults the second MMR dose is a UK thing. As your GPs and practice nurses know nothing at all about US vaccine schedules, they assume it is the same as here and reccommend the number of doses you would have for the UK. Hence if you just print off the vaccine list from Knightsbridge doctors they will start giving you hep B jabs etc which you don't need, because they don't know the details of what you do need.

[Marty J 0]

You don't! For adults the second MMR dose is a UK thing.

The vaccination requirements the embassy's doctors work off state for MMR:

"Two doses at least 4 weeks apart for <18 years of age."

I just thought it was odd. I wonder if the MR can count as the first dose?