RFE

[katie & sifa 25]

So...we applied for AOS in May this year, transferred to CSC in June...and now we get an RFE for medical. Here's exactly what it says:

NEW FORM I-693: There is no record of the applicant's overseas medical report on file. Therefore, the applicant is required to submit a new Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination record, that is properly completed and signed. The newest version of the Form I-693 includes the medical information as well as the vaccination record. Under new agency guidance, applicants two years of age or older are required to have a tuberculin skin test or a new blood test ("interferon gamma release assays" or IGRA) performed.

Since the applicant provided a partially completed I-693 providing evidence that his vaccination records are up to date, he need not have the vaccination portion of the new I-693 performed.

Here are the facts:

-Original medical for the K-1 was done in Mombasa Kenya in December 2009.

-We did the vaccination supplement with the civil surgeon (as they point out in the 2nd paragraph.)

-He turned in the brown envelope at POE O'Hare in Chicago.

Here is our confusion...the first part says they have no record of his file. Then it kind of makes it sound like he just needs a TB test (which is kind of a problem in and of itself...he has positive skin tests for TB due to exposure, like tons of Africans and people who spend lots of time in Africa. We can provide copies of his results to a CS, but I hate to make him get the skin test AGAIN because it becomes very itchy and painful, gets worse each time they make him do one!)

So...we called the "information" line, they told us to schedule an InfoPass which we did but the first available appointment isn't until October 4 (which would still give us time to do the medical and get it in - RFE must be returned by Oct 26) but we don't WANT to do the medical! Just seems like a huuuuuge waste of money since he just had it done less than a year ago INCLUDING of course the chest x-ray which we still have here in our apartment.

Any advice? I'll be calling our senators & congressman tomorrow...and of course if worse comes to worse we will do the medical, but that's just adding to an already RIDICULOUSLY expensive process. I am still amazed that it took them FOUR MONTHS to decide that our medical was missing. What nonsense! I cannot WAIT to be done with these people!!

[Inky 1,110]

Sounds like they lost his medical from over seas to me which seems to happen to quite a few people. You will want to ask them WHERE it is and tell them to find it!

[MalolosToUSA 0]

I cannot believe this happened!!! Especially waiting four months to tell you. The incompetence of USCIS amazes me.

I really hope we do not get the same type of RFE.

I wish you the best of luck!

[faithfully 1]

So...we applied for AOS in May this year, transferred to CSC in June...and now we get an RFE for medical. Here's exactly what it says:

Here are the facts:

-Original medical for the K-1 was done in Mombasa Kenya in December 2009.

-We did the vaccination supplement with the civil surgeon (as they point out in the 2nd paragraph.)

-He turned in the brown envelope at POE O'Hare in Chicago.

Here is our confusion...the first part says they have no record of his file. Then it kind of makes it sound like he just needs a TB test (which is kind of a problem in and of itself...he has positive skin tests for TB due to exposure, like tons of Africans and people who spend lots of time in Africa. We can provide copies of his results to a CS, but I hate to make him get the skin test AGAIN because it becomes very itchy and painful, gets worse each time they make him do one!)

So...we called the "information" line, they told us to schedule an InfoPass which we did but the first available appointment isn't until October 4 (which would still give us time to do the medical and get it in - RFE must be returned by Oct 26) but we don't WANT to do the medical! Just seems like a huuuuuge waste of money since he just had it done less than a year ago INCLUDING of course the chest x-ray which we still have here in our apartment.

Any advice? I'll be calling our senators & congressman tomorrow...and of course if worse comes to worse we will do the medical, but that's just adding to an already RIDICULOUSLY expensive process. I am still amazed that it took them FOUR MONTHS to decide that our medical was missing. What nonsense! I cannot WAIT to be done with these people!!

You can try sending the receipt of the medical and the vaccination report. Good luck!

[fiestagirl 7]

It may be possible to give the chest xray to a civil surgeon and then he won't have to do the TB test. when i went to do my medical, the doctor told me if I had the xray from a surgery I had done and it was less than a year old, then I didn't have to do the TB test.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

They didn't wait 4 months to tell you this - your application has been waiting in line for its turn at review. It just got up to the head of the line which took 4 months, and they reviewed it for completeness. It has been known to happen (unfortunately, rather regularly) that the medical from the K-1 gets separated somewhere in the process. Sometimes the missing medical shows up but many times it doesn't. For some reasons, medicals seem to go missing more than any other document.

There have been VJ members in the past who received RFEs for their medicals and instead of sending in the medical as requested, sent back the statement that the medical was done during the K-1 process and they should have it. Their applications were denied because they failed to provide the requested documentation. In the cases that I remember, some had to then pay to file a request to re-open the application, and at least one had to file a whole new AOS application. In all cases, they had to go and re-do the medical even though their first medical was less than a year old.

I can appreciate you don't want to re-do the medical and you really shouldn't have to, however, experience has shown that when USCIS requests a document it is in your best interests to provide them with that document even though you have already provided it once and getting it a second time is of great inconvenience - and sometimes expense - to you to do so, rather than have to deal with a denied application and all of the additional time, expense - and obtaining the missing documentation requested the first time - to get it re-opened or re-filed..

[VanessaTony 3,567]

As Kathryn said this is a known issue, so before I filed my AOS I actually contacted my doctor in Australia and asked if I could be sent a copy of the medical. Some doctors won't do this, but others (like mine) had no issue with it. I received the copy medical after I filed AOS (took a while) and knew that if I got the RFE, i would simply send that copy.

Perhaps it's an option for you to contact the doc that did the K1 medical and get another copy sent to you (or to a family member who can then forward it to you if the doc won't do international mail). Or perhaps your doc could email it to you, or fax it or something.

Some people also make infopass appointments (those don't tend to work as they don't have your files). Others contact their senator/congressman and ask them to ask USCIS to check your A file (that's the one you handed in at POE) for the medical, this occasionally works and in the meantime you can research getting the medical from your home country, and finding a good CS if it does turn out they've lost it.

Worst case scenario, start looking for a cheap CS who'll do the medical for you.

Good luck.