Help with RFE

[Messybrownhair 251]

Hi everyone!

I seem to have joined the lucky bunch of immigrants whose medical exams are mysteriously lost at POE.. I received an RFE last Thursday and I got the letter today and here's what it says:

Request for Initial Evidence (I-485)

This office is unable to complete the processing of your Application without additional information. Please submit the information requested below.

NEW FORM I-693: 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 Form I-693 includes the medical information as well as the vaccination record. Under new agency guidance, applicants 2 years of age or older are required to either have a tuberculin skin test or a new blood test performed.

The applicant either did not initially submit Form I-693, or he/she submitted Form I-693 that indicates his/her medical exam was conducted on or after June 01, 2008. As such, the applicant must submit a fully completed and properly signed Form I-693.

There's more (info about vaccines) but basically that's the gist of it.

Lucky for me, as soon as I found out I had an RFE last week I already made an appointment with a civil surgeon just in case. I figured I could always cancel in case it wasn't about the medical. So I have a schedule this Thursday already and it's for $200, which really isn't so bad. They told me that I could have the results either the same day or the next day depending on whether I need vaccinations or not, which I don't, because I already went to the health department and got a complete record last March.

My question would be, based on what I wrote, this is for a completely new medical right??

I am in a hurry because I need to go to grad school this Fall, and my school needs my GC to enroll. Because of this, I just choose to repeat it than try to fight USCIS and ask them to find it, or request a copy of my medical from Manila..

Also, for those who've had RFE's.. how exactly do I mail this? The RFE came with a tiny envelope, am I supposed to fit it all in there, because a sealed medical would not fit there. So can I send in my own envelope? Also, do I need to include the blue paper and the attached sheet explaining the RFE? Should I make a cover letter?

Thanks everyone and hope this doesn't happen to anyone else!

I would appreciate any answers anyone can provide.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

It doesn't read like the other lost medical RFEs I have seen others post. Theirs usually say the DS forms from the panel physicians in their country were not in their file.

Yours only mentions the I-693. It says you either did not send one, or the date shows it was not within a year. Well, that it was on or after June 2008, which of course it would have been after June 2008.

This is kind of strange. Check the dates on your I-693 maybe? Hmm, or they lost your I-693. I suppose you could contact the CS that initially did it and try and get it redone, newly signed and dated.

You can always go ahead with the full medical to be extra safe, I suppose.

Perhaps someone will come along with more experience in this stuff and help you out. Good luck! Hope it gets fixed quickly and easily for you.

[Messybrownhair 251]

It doesn't read like the other lost medical RFEs I have seen others post. Theirs usually say the DS forms from the panel physicians in their country were not in their file.

Yours only mentions the I-693. It says you either did not send one, or the date shows it was not within a year. Well, that it was on or after June 2008, which of course it would have been after June 2008.

This is kind of strange. Check the dates on your I-693 maybe? Hmm, or they lost your I-693. I suppose you could contact the CS that initially did it and try and get it redone, newly signed and dated.

You can always go ahead with the full medical to be extra safe, I suppose.

Perhaps someone will come along with more experience in this stuff and help you out. Good luck! Hope it gets fixed quickly and easily for you.

I noticed that too.. I've been looking up VJ posts on lost medicals, and my RFE isn't the same. Could the CS I used have done something wrong? I have a copy of what they did and it is dated March 28, 2011. They completed the "Information about you" part, the vaccination part and the Civil Surgeon's certification. I got his name from the list of Civil surgeons in USCIS.. and the I-693 they used expires 10/31/2011. So I don't see what's wrong???

[missicy 87]

Yes, it is strange and it looks like something was wrong with the I-693 you submited.

Don't they do a blood test and TB test when they do a whole medical? That would take more than a day to get the results back, I think.

[Messybrownhair 251]

Yes, it is strange and it looks like something was wrong with the I-693 you submited.

Don't they do a blood test and TB test when they do a whole medical? That would take more than a day to get the results back, I think.

I clarified that and the IGRA blood test only needs 8 hours, so I can have the results the next day.

[missicy 87]

I clarified that and the IGRA blood test only needs 8 hours, so I can have the results the next day.

What about TB test? You have to come back in a few days (2 or 3 I think) to check the reaction on your skin. But I might be wrong and you won't need it.

[Messybrownhair 251]

What about TB test? You have to come back in a few days (2 or 3 I think) to check the reaction on your skin. But I might be wrong and you won't need it.

Oh the IGRA test does check for TB. And yeah I don't think I'll need it. I'll just redo the full exam, and I was able to do that in the Philippines for a day, and just went back for results the next day, don't see why this would be different. When I called they said that the full medical only takes a day, and results can be retrieved the following day. But really waiting two days wouldn't be too bad, that only means I can send it next week, and won't really make much of a difference since it can still be received next week if I send it through 1-day delivery. Sending it Friday or Monday won't really matter..

[missicy 87]

Oh I see, that makes sense then. I didn't know they can just check blood for TB, I thought they could only do a skin test. That's good then, good luck and I hope you get this resolved fast!

[Messybrownhair 251]

Thanks, hope so too :/

Well we went ahead and contacted the congressman anyway, and they said that they would call on our behalf once we've sent the RFE to help speed things up.. We faxed them Tim's deployment notice and my school acceptance letter and they responded right away. Hope that will help too.

Ahhh so stressful

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Thanks, hope so too :/

Well we went ahead and contacted the congressman anyway, and they said that they would call on our behalf once we've sent the RFE to help speed things up.. We faxed them Tim's deployment notice and my school acceptance letter and they responded right away. Hope that will help too.

Ahhh so stressful

I know you mentioned the expiry date of the form but what is the EDITION date (sometimes the update the versions of forms but the expiry is the same but the old edition isn't valid anymore) and are all pages the same? When I saw my CS she was using an old for that USCIS no longer accepted so she TRIED to include my up to date front page and her old version for the rest of the pages but I noticed and made her redo it. I wasn't getting an RFE cause she was an idiot.

[C&D2010 0]

Oh the IGRA test does check for TB. And yeah I don't think I'll need it. I'll just redo the full exam, and I was able to do that in the Philippines for a day, and just went back for results the next day, don't see why this would be different. When I called they said that the full medical only takes a day, and results can be retrieved the following day. But really waiting two days wouldn't be too bad, that only means I can send it next week, and won't really make much of a difference since it can still be received next week if I send it through 1-day delivery. Sending it Friday or Monday won't really matter..

I am having the same issue right now. Although I didn't send off my AOS paperwork yet, I was about to do so and then found out about the I-693.

I got a sealed envelope at the consulate in Germany, but they didn't tell me what is inside.

I know for a fact they didn't do the TB - testing.

I called an immigration lawyer and he confirmed that I need to have the TB skin test done before filing for AOS.

So off I went to the CS and I am having the skin tests results tomorrow. They also do another blood test and physical test. The reason for that is that the instructions of the I693 say, that you don't need another medical, as long as you have the vaccination report. If you do not have that, you need to see the CS and fill out Form I693, Part 1, Part 2 and Part5

Part 2 clearly states another physical, blood work and the TB skin test.

I am having blood and physical done today and tomorrow they read off the results of my skin and I will have my report by tomorrow.

This is really backwards.

[Messybrownhair 251]

Okay, I called up the doctor to move my appointment to today, and to do the TB skin test. I get the results on Friday and I can send it then! YAY!

[missicy 87]

I am having the same issue right now. Although I didn't send off my AOS paperwork yet, I was about to do so and then found out about the I-693.

I got a sealed envelope at the consulate in Germany, but they didn't tell me what is inside.

I know for a fact they didn't do the TB - testing.

I called an immigration lawyer and he confirmed that I need to have the TB skin test done before filing for AOS.

So off I went to the CS and I am having the skin tests results tomorrow. They also do another blood test and physical test. The reason for that is that the instructions of the I693 say, that you don't need another medical, as long as you have the vaccination report. If you do not have that, you need to see the CS and fill out Form I693, Part 1, Part 2 and Part5

Part 2 clearly states another physical, blood work and the TB skin test.

I am having blood and physical done today and tomorrow they read off the results of my skin and I will have my report by tomorrow.

This is really backwards.

If you carefully read instructions for I-693, you will see that if you are a K non immigrant visa holder and already had medical exam overseas, then you will have to have only the vaccination report completed by CS. In this case, you are required to submit Part 1, part 2 the vaccination chart and part 5. No TB skin test or anything other than vaccinations. So-called immigration lawyers sometimes don't know what they are talking about.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

I am having the same issue right now. Although I didn't send off my AOS paperwork yet, I was about to do so and then found out about the I-693.

I got a sealed envelope at the consulate in Germany, but they didn't tell me what is inside.

I know for a fact they didn't do the TB - testing.

I called an immigration lawyer and he confirmed that I need to have the TB skin test done before filing for AOS.

So off I went to the CS and I am having the skin tests results tomorrow. They also do another blood test and physical test. The reason for that is that the instructions of the I693 say, that you don't need another medical, as long as you have the vaccination report. If you do not have that, you need to see the CS and fill out Form I693, Part 1, Part 2 and Part5

Part 2 clearly states another physical, blood work and the TB skin test.

I am having blood and physical done today and tomorrow they read off the results of my skin and I will have my report by tomorrow.

This is really backwards.

If you had a chest x-ray with your physical, then you had a TB check. That is what it was for.

You need to read the I-693 instructions more carefully. They state you need:

Part 1, Information About You, Part 2, the vaccination chart, and Part 5, the Civil Surgeon's Certification.

[Messybrownhair 251]

Well my physical is over. All in all I spent $195. Sucks but at least its over! Will come back on friday to check the skin test results and get the paperwork. Happy to get this out of the way!