2nd RFE for same thing

[beazalbob69 0]

Hi all I havent posted in awile and I thought I would share our situation with everyone and hopefully get some advice also.

We are currently waiting for my wifes greencard.

We got a RFE for a full medical exam around April 15 and had until May 15 to send all required documents or we might possibly get denied!

I contacted the visa lawyer that took care of the K1 visa and sent us everything we needed for the AOS application and asked him what we should do. He told me to tell them to read their own instructions as he had sent me all the required paperwork.

I looked around on the messageboards here and noticed I was not alone! It seems the USCIS has a very bad habit of losing medicals. Funny how they want you to give them something you werent allowed to keep coming into the US.

I did some more searching and found out a new medical in the US will probably cost somewhere around 300$ - 400$!

Plus they changed the vaccination requirements since my wife had them done last and she would need additional shots etc.

I decided to fight! It was not my fault that they lost the medical. So I made copies of everything they had sent me, wrote them a letter explaining that We are not required to submit a full medical as she had already had one in Bangkok before getting the K1 visa. Copies of the email conversation between my visa lawyer and myself and the vaccine supplement sheets and sent it back to them.

I figured they would just deny My wife her greencard outright and I would have to get my Congressperson and/or Senator involved as I had followed the instructions to the letter.

Well today I get another letter from the USCIS and I figure its the denial letter but NO its another RFE for the same thing!

At the bottom of the letter they added an extra paragraph explaining in more detail why they need the full medical again. It reads:

You are correct in stating that the I-693 should be in your file, However it is not we cannot proceed with approval of your application until we have the form. You have indicated that you may be able to contact the doctor in Thailand who performed the original exam to provide a duplicate I-693. Then goes on to say it still has to be in a sealed envelope or it wont be taken.

So it seems I am right but it doesnt matter one iota. They still didnt admit that they lost it

I guess fighting them is a lost cause. Does anyone think getting my Congressperson / Senator involved to help find the missing medical would be my next step? I dont want to put my wife through all that ####### again and I dont want to spend another 400$ as money is tight right now.

Man I love this country more and more everyday

[STEPHnRIA 2]

I got the same letter- RFE for I-693. I took my medical and vaccination in Philippines for my K1 visa. For the AOS, I went to a civil surgeon authorized by USCIS to perform another medical exam. I didnt do medical exam but was given additional vaccination shots (three of them). The doctor filled out the I-693, signed it and put in a sealed envelope. I sent it together with the rest of my AOS requirements. I swear it was there and now I got the RFE too. So frustrating...

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi all I havent posted in awile and I thought I would share our situation with everyone and hopefully get some advice also.

We are currently waiting for my wifes greencard.

We got a RFE for a full medical exam around April 15 and had until May 15 to send all required documents or we might possibly get denied!

I contacted the visa lawyer that took care of the K1 visa and sent us everything we needed for the AOS application and asked him what we should do. He told me to tell them to read their own instructions as he had sent me all the required paperwork.

I looked around on the messageboards here and noticed I was not alone! It seems the USCIS has a very bad habit of losing medicals. Funny how they want you to give them something you werent allowed to keep coming into the US.

I did some more searching and found out a new medical in the US will probably cost somewhere around 300$ - 400$!

Plus they changed the vaccination requirements since my wife had them done last and she would need additional shots etc.

I decided to fight! It was not my fault that they lost the medical. So I made copies of everything they had sent me, wrote them a letter explaining that We are not required to submit a full medical as she had already had one in Bangkok before getting the K1 visa. Copies of the email conversation between my visa lawyer and myself and the vaccine supplement sheets and sent it back to them.

I figured they would just deny My wife her greencard outright and I would have to get my Congressperson and/or Senator involved as I had followed the instructions to the letter.

Well today I get another letter from the USCIS and I figure its the denial letter but NO its another RFE for the same thing!

At the bottom of the letter they added an extra paragraph explaining in more detail why they need the full medical again. It reads:

You are correct in stating that the I-693 should be in your file, However it is not we cannot proceed with approval of your application until we have the form. You have indicated that you may be able to contact the doctor in Thailand who performed the original exam to provide a duplicate I-693. Then goes on to say it still has to be in a sealed envelope or it wont be taken.

So it seems I am right but it doesnt matter one iota. They still didnt admit that they lost it

I guess fighting them is a lost cause. Does anyone think getting my Congressperson / Senator involved to help find the missing medical would be my next step? I dont want to put my wife through all that ####### again and I dont want to spend another 400$ as money is tight right now.

Man I love this country more and more everyday

Now you have discovered the book of secrets! If ANYthing goes wrong, your fault, their fault, anyones fault...it is YOUR problem. Now you can go and fight and call your senator or call the doctor in Thailand (I am sure he will get right back to you) or you can pay the $300 and be done with it.

[reeses16 8]

It reads:

You are correct in stating that the I-693 should be in your file, However it is not we cannot proceed with approval of your application until we have the form.

Seems like this is their admission that they lost it. When you submitted the medical the in response to the 1st RFE, was the report in a sealed envelop? Sounds like it was not. Request it again, have it sent by post. Perhaps you could arrange for a family member to pick up the sealed letter and send it FedEX. If not just pay for a new exam, its cheaper than the $1010 you will pay if you have to re-file her AOS.

[biker4Eva 6]

Are you sure you submitted the I-693? Perhaps you have it confused with the DS-2035.

[vip1 8]

I would advice you to get the medical again, try asking different prices from different doctors. When i did my medical some were charging me $200+, but after some phone calls I ended up findind this really cool doctor that did it for only $75. Good luck!

[beazalbob69 0]

Thanks for the info! As to the original medical I handed it over to the Immigration officer at out POE whick was SanFrancisco. He took the sealed envelope and I never saw it again.

Must have gotten lost from California to Florida and then back to California.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Re-do the medical. Other VJers here have 'fought' the request to submit another medical stating that it was already provided. Their cases were denied. It took a lot of time and a lot more money for them to re-open - and in one case to refile all over again - this time with the new medical. Yes, they lost it but you are the one who gets to suffer the consequences if you don't make up their loss.

[Eric-Pris 1,606]

Re-do the medical. You've already lost the fight, before it even started, so don't bother. USCIS holds all the cards.

You shouldn't have to spend $300-400. Get the shots at your private doctor through insurance, or at the public health clinic for cheap, and call a few different civil surgeons in your area for prices. You can usually find a decent one.

[STEPHnRIA 2]

But what can you guys say about mine, I paid $300 for the civil surgeoun to transcribe my medical, sign the I-693 and put it in a sealed envelope and sign it again. It was there with my AOS application. Good thing the civil surgeon gave me a copy. I called the USCIS and they told me that its ok to just send the copy. I have my EAD and AP already. Done with my biometrics which I had to do twice because apparently, there was something wrong with my fingerprints the first time. How could they misplace my I-693? Sigh...

[Reba 2]

When they "lost" my medical file and sent me an RFE the VERY FIRST thing we did was call the Senator's office! It took the immigration liason a couple of weeks, but they eventually got the Charlotte district office to admit that they had miraculously "found" the lost file and it was their mistake. During that 2 or 3 weeks, I called the panel physician in Toronto and got a duplicate copy of my original medical for $40 (much less than the $400 local civil surgeons want for immigration medicals!) and sent that in reply to their stupid RFE. With of course, a harshly worded letter for them to pay attention to their own freakin rules and regulations

I hate government bureaucracy, and hate it even more when people just roll over and take it, just because it's government. You CAN fight it. You just have to do it in a timely manner, or pay the consequences.

[TwoTravelers 0]

When they "lost" my medical file and sent me an RFE the VERY FIRST thing we did was call the Senator's office! It took the immigration liason a couple of weeks, but they eventually got the Charlotte district office to admit that they had miraculously "found" the lost file and it was their mistake. During that 2 or 3 weeks, I called the panel physician in Toronto and got a duplicate copy of my original medical for $40 (much less than the $400 local civil surgeons want for immigration medicals!) and sent that in reply to their stupid RFE. With of course, a harshly worded letter for them to pay attention to their own freakin rules and regulations

I hate government bureaucracy, and hate it even more when people just roll over and take it, just because it's government. You CAN fight it. You just have to do it in a timely manner, or pay the consequences.

Thank you for writing that people should not "Just Roll Over and Take It". I was getting a little frustrated reading people say just do the medical again. WE DON'T HAVE TO! We the people have to stand up for our rights. The people are the government and we are getting closer and closer to forgetting that. That's why government has so much control now, the people have let them have it.

[TwoTravelers 0]

But what can you guys say about mine, I paid $300 for the civil surgeoun to transcribe my medical, sign the I-693 and put it in a sealed envelope and sign it again. It was there with my AOS application. Good thing the civil surgeon gave me a copy. I called the USCIS and they told me that its ok to just send the copy. I have my EAD and AP already. Done with my biometrics which I had to do twice because apparently, there was something wrong with my fingerprints the first time. How could they misplace my I-693? Sigh...

I'm so sorry they lost your medical. You should not have had to do another to begin with. I hope everything gets resolved for you somehow. We are about to send in my husbands AOS papers and we are so worried that they will lose his medical. From all the story's I have read I am beginning to think it is no mistake they lose the medical. There is some reason, like they have some commission with the civil surgeon's or something. I would really like to see a bunch of us ban together at some point and fight for Legal Immigrants Rights. What they are doing is wrong and costs not only us going through this AOS but tax payers that have no idea this is all going on.

Good luck to you! Would love to hear if you get this cleared up with your Senator or some other way.

[msu17 0]

But what can you guys say about mine, I paid $300 for the civil surgeoun to transcribe my medical, sign the I-693 and put it in a sealed envelope and sign it again. It was there with my AOS application. Good thing the civil surgeon gave me a copy. I called the USCIS and they told me that its ok to just send the copy. I have my EAD and AP already. Done with my biometrics which I had to do twice because apparently, there was something wrong with my fingerprints the first time. How could they misplace my I-693? Sigh...

I'm so sorry they lost your medical. You should not have had to do another to begin with. I hope everything gets resolved for you somehow. We are about to send in my husbands AOS papers and we are so worried that they will lose his medical. From all the story's I have read I am beginning to think it is no mistake they lose the medical. There is some reason, like they have some commission with the civil surgeon's or something. I would really like to see a bunch of us ban together at some point and fight for Legal Immigrants Rights. What they are doing is wrong and costs not only us going through this AOS but tax payers that have no idea this is all going on.

Good luck to you! Would love to hear if you get this cleared up with your Senator or some other way.

How is this costing tax payers? USCIS is funded by the fees we pay when we file. They don't get tax money. Yes, it would be nice if people would band together and make the fix it blah blah blah, but it wont happen and if it did, there are a lot bigger fish to fry than fixing a 400$ medical.

[JeremyR 8]

Thank you for writing that people should not "Just Roll Over and Take It". I was getting a little frustrated reading people say just do the medical again. WE DON'T HAVE TO! We the people have to stand up for our rights. The people are the government and we are getting closer and closer to forgetting that. That's why government has so much control now, the people have let them have it.

I don't think any of us think you should "HAVE TO" pay for a new medical. However, as has been stated, if you want a green card out of this, you don't have much choice. People have fought it before and their experiences show that you're playing with fire if you tell them to stick their RFE where the sun don't shine (no matter how politely you do it!). The law requires that a medical exam report be filed with every AOS application. It's a concession to K-1's that they are allowed to use their visa medical for AOS if it's <1yr old. If they don't have a medical report, the law says they CANNOT approve the case. It's as simple as that. If they say they don't have it, you have to supply another one. It's unfortunate, expensive and irritating but a WHOLE LOT LESS HASSLE than opening the mailbox and finding the denial notice you even said that you expected to receive.

Frankly, you should consider that second RFE with extra explanatory notes as a nice gesture by the adjudicator. Other people have sent back response that were deemed inadequate and not been so lucky. They got no warning at all that it wasn't accepted until their case was eventually denied for failing to respond appropriately.

FWIW, the motion to reconsider a denied AOS costs $545, I think (edit: it's $585). If that fails to get your case reopened and you have to refile the AOS, it will cost another $1010. In either case, you will STILL be asked to provide another medical at your own cost.

Just suck it up, pay the money and get the green card. AOS isn't the time for fighting on matters of principle.

Edited June 15, 2009 by JeremyR