Concerns about H1N1 spread & upcoming medical exam

[US math guy 0]

Mi wife from NL, Mexico has an interview scheduled for July at the Ciudad Juarez consulate so she can get her CR-1 visa. Of course it must be preceded by a medical exam. She is usually in fairly good health and she passed the exam last spring (in 2008) when she was going for her K-1 visa. Her current plan is to fly to the consulate, get all of that stuff done, and then return home to work for 12 weeks or so before she actually emigrates. Where she lives she has seen no sign of H1N1.

So I am not expecting any real issues. But now that the WHO has declared H1N1 to be a real epidemic and my own company (with offices in around 50 countries around the world) has appointed a global HR pandemic H1N1 response coordinator, this swine flu thing is getting a bit harder to ignore.

Just curious if anyone has had any experience in this area. First of all, just to ask I guess a dumb question, if god-forbid my wife should develop the flu (of any type), is that grounds for denying or delaying issuance of a CR-1 visa, if you otherwise qualify. I have only heard of this coming up on the news at POE immigration office evaluations. I guess in the latter situation conceivably you could be quarantined.

Also in buying airline tickets and hotel reservations, maybe it would best to be very flexible, i.e.

1. Allow at least two business days for the medical exam.

2. Do not buy non-refundable airline tickets to the consulate, either up or back.

3. Avoid paying non-refundable hotel reservation deposits.

Comments?

[franklie 0]

Mi wife from NL, Mexico has an interview scheduled for July at the Ciudad Juarez consulate so she can get her CR-1 visa. Of course it must be preceded by a medical exam. She is usually in fairly good health and she passed the exam last spring (in 2008) when she was going for her K-1 visa. Her current plan is to fly to the consulate, get all of that stuff done, and then return home to work for 12 weeks or so before she actually emigrates. Where she lives she has seen no sign of H1N1.

So I am not expecting any real issues. But now that the WHO has declared H1N1 to be a real epidemic and my own company (with offices in around 50 countries around the world) has appointed a global HR pandemic H1N1 response coordinator, this swine flu thing is getting a bit harder to ignore.

Just curious if anyone has had any experience in this area. First of all, just to ask I guess a dumb question, if god-forbid my wife should develop the flu (of any type), is that grounds for denying or delaying issuance of a CR-1 visa, if you otherwise qualify. I have only heard of this coming up on the news at POE immigration office evaluations. I guess in the latter situation conceivably you could be quarantined.

Also in buying airline tickets and hotel reservations, maybe it would best to be very flexible, i.e.

1. Allow at least two business days for the medical exam.

2. Do not buy non-refundable airline tickets to the consulate, either up or back.

3. Avoid paying non-refundable hotel reservation deposits.

Comments?

My wife and I just got back from Cd Juarez. Though the swine flu is called a pandemic, as for as I have seen from the news reports it is less lethal than the standard flu. My wife did her medical on the morning of the day before her interview and picked up her results that afternoon.

There is a thread dedicated to CR1/IR visas here IR-1 / CR-1 in Ciudad Juarez, It seems like everyone in the Ciudad Juarez thread are on K1 that may help you as well.

WRT the flu I'm not sure what they would do. Probably make sure that you were asymptomatic before allowing you to travel. BTW, if your wife travels by air in Mexico she will have to fill out a form concerning any flu-like symptoms that she may have. It gets turned in w/ your boarding pass. It's issued and filled out at the airport.

[US math guy 0]

Thanks for the update. Stewart