Coordinating Medical and Interview?

[zentaco 28]

As I live in Alberta, I'm going to have to fly to Vancouver to do both my medical exam and interview. However, I'd really like to condense it into one trip if possible.. I've already spent about $1500 on plane travel alone to see my fiance in the last six months and it's busy season at work soon until the end of June. (While I haven't sent my packet yet, I doubt it will take that long.) The packet checklist states that I must book the exam before the interview, but the woking medical centre is only open Wednesdays. How flexible and available are interviews? Ideally I'd like to have the interview the day after so that my fiance and I don't need to take too much time off work at our respective locations of employment (especially for my fiance's sake - he has already taken a lot of vacation time for me and his brother this year). But I'm nervous I'll book something and find out there are no interviews.

Edited April 19, 2012 by zentaco

[at long last 58]

As I live in Alberta, I'm going to have to fly to Vancouver to do both my medical exam and interview. However, I'd really like to condense it into one trip if possible.. I've already spent about $1500 on plane travel alone to see my fiance in the last six months and it's busy season at work soon until the end of June. (While I haven't sent my packet yet, I doubt it will take that long.) The packet checklist states that I must book the exam before the interview, but the woking medical centre is only open Wednesdays. How flexible and available are interviews? Ideally I'd like to have the interview the day after so that my fiance and I don't need to take too much time off work at our respective locations of employment (especially for my fiance's sake - he has already taken a lot of vacation time for me and his brother this year). But I'm nervous I'll book something and find out there are no interviews.

http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Canada&cty=Vancouver

If you go onto this site and find the site for booking your interview, you can set up your account so that you will be ready to book your interview when it is time, PLUS if you go through the process you can find out when the next interview date is.

Packet 4 contents (if known): A letter which directs the applicant to http://canada.usvisa-info.com to schedule the interview and pay the visa fee.

This is an informative page.

Hope it helps

Terri

[awkwardsoul 20]

I did my medical/interview last month in Vancouver, availability was pretty good. 2 days in advance good. I scheduled mine a week in advance and there were no issues.

[HeatDeath 430]

I did my K1 interview and medical on April 29, 2009, but I'm pretty sure what I did is still mostly valid.

When I faxed in my Packet 3 checklist, I requested an interview for Wednesday or preferably Thursday. They gave me Wednesday at 1:30 PM. I indicated on my Packet 3 checklist, and confirmed via email with the Vancouver consulate that this was ok, that I wouldn't arrange my medical until after I had my interview appointment. They were fine with that. At that point I already knew that Woking only did medicals on Wednesdays.

So I ended up having a very busy Wednesday. I flew out there Tuesday evening after work, arrived about midnight Vancouver time. I stayed in a Hotel called the Burrard Inn [www.BurrardInn.com] which is literally 200 feet from the medical centre's front door [same block, same side of the street. Very convenient. Make sure you request a room in the back away from the main street], and about 15-20 minute's brisk walk from the consulate. So I woke up at 5:30 AM, got in line outside Woking at 5:45, was done by about 9:30. Went to the travel clinic a few blocks up (appointment arranged by Woking) to get my TDap shot. Walked back to Woking to hand deliver the updated vaccination information. Walked around, had lunch, walked to the consulate. Was done at the consulate by about 3:15. Approved pending medical results. Hiked very quickly back to Woking to pick up my medical results, and hiked them even more quickly back to the consulate, which closes at 4. (You might want to get a cab for this part). Consulate says I'm approved, and can pick up my passport with visa tomorrow (I understand they don't do this part anymore).

I had set my flights to give me most of Thursday in Vancouver as well (leave Vancouver around 5:40, back in Winnipeg by midnight) so the next day I walked around downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park, saw some of the sights, arranged to be at the consulate by about 2 to pick up my visa, then hiked back to the hotel, picked up my luggage from where they were storing it after I checked out, and caught the airport shuttle back to the airport. (BTW: allow for more than 1 hour for the airport shuttle bus to get you back to the airport. It dawdles a bit downtown going from hotel to hotel and I nearly missed my flight.) I was back in Winnipeg by about midnight Winnipeg time and back at work Friday morning.

Re: scheduling the medical appointment: Woking have an assembly-line like process. They can handle a large amount of people on any given Wednesday. They indicated via email that once I knew my interview date, they could trivially slip me in to the nearest Wednesday [which just ended up being the same day], and that there was little realistic danger of a given Wednesday being so busy they couldn't handle another person.