Dr. Gulzar Cheema - medical review

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

My medical was at 8:45am. I live in Abbotsford and it took just over an hour to get there as it is in the North Surrey/Delta area. The staff is very professional and they know what they're doing.

You will need to bring a letter from the consulate with your case number on it. I just printed off my e-mail. You will also need your passport, 1 2x2 passport photo and proof of all your vaccinations which they will take copies of. I was complimented for having everything all organized.

One of the office assistants will take your height and weight and Dr. Cheema will test your eyes, look in your throat/ears/eyes. He will ask you the basic questions: any history of heart disease/diabetes/mental illness/drugs etc., are you on medication...all the basics. Then if you're female (I don't know what the procedure is for men), they ask you to pull down your pants/undies to your mid-thigh and while a female assistant is in the room, he'll feel your abdomen and check for lumps in your armpits. It was all very quick and I almost felt like he was just going through the motions and ticking off his checklist as it was very fast. Oh yes, you'll get your blood pressure taken too.

After you pay the fee (275$, cash or debit only) at the front desk, you'll get the two requisitions for your blood test and chest x-ray. The building for those two is about 5 or so minutes up the road from the Dr's office. Parking is pretty competitive but it's free. The X-Ray clinic is on the first floor and my wait was less than 5 minutes. You'll get a smock to put on and they ask you to remove everything above the waist and you can bring your purse in to the X-Ray room. Piercings are fine (nipples, belly-button), just no necklaces and if you have long hair they'll ask if you can tie it back. It's quick and they double check that they got a good one before you can leave.

BC bio-labs are on the 2nd floor and if you're mid-morning expect around a half hour wait or so. Just remember to take a number from the machine as soon as you get in the door and then you can wait inside their smallish waiting room or out in the hall. They're very nice there and then I was done.

Dr. Cheema's office said I can pick up my results after 4:30pm the following day and their office is open until 6pm.

My only complaint about their office is their communication is pretty sporadic and a tad bit unprofessional. This probably comes from the fact that I do a lot of business e-mails and I'm always typing in full sentences etc. They're more likely to respond to your e-mail if you say you have an interview set up at the consulate. I would state the date of your interview and give them a time of when you'd like your medical exam. I asked to have mine on the 12th in the morning and they accommodated me.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me or ask in this thread. Cheers!

[Ms Hogan 295]

We require 3 photos (for me, kids only need 1) for our medical. I wonder if that is because we are doing CR1 vs K visa? Odd.

[Waiting234 18]

We need a new area in the Reviews section to write these kinds of things. Or is it better that we don't report on Medical? It can get too personal maybe? Or maybe it will be bad and give away tactics the medical centers use to try and catch drug abusers, hence helping them into our country? I don't know...

i.e. "Reviews: Embassy/USCIS/POE/Medical"

[hikergirl 277]

We need a new area in the Reviews section to write these kinds of things. Or is it better that we don't report on Medical? It can get too personal maybe? Or maybe it will be bad and give away tactics the medical centers use to try and catch drug abusers, hence helping them into our country? I don't know...

i.e. "Reviews: Embassy/USCIS/POE/Medical"

It’s helpful for us Canadians to know the cost and such at each of our panel physicians.

We have 3 different cities and 4 different clinics that we can use.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

We require 3 photos (for me, kids only need 1) for our medical. I wonder if that is because we are doing CR1 vs K visa? Odd.

probably for CR-1 - It's just 1 photo that Dr. Cheema requires for K1.

[Waiting234 18]

Its helpful for us Canadians to know the cost and such at each of our panel physicians.

We have 3 different cities and 4 different clinics that we can use.

Medical reviews would have been very beneficial for me to read in November/December timeframe. Not having them could have caused the delay of my case. However, I am also not convinced that having the reviews could have benefited me either. Who knew that my fiancee would be quaranteened in her country until a TB test could be completed? I was not quarenteened with her... which shows how strongly our government really feels about infectious disease entering our country.

She is going to test negative for TB and, if she is positive, they still let her come here after forcing her to be treated on months of antibiotics (I am opposed to the unnecessary use of antibiotics) without the ability to get a second opinion from a second doctor... Why they can't test after the point of entry I do not understand. I'm here and probably infected if she is... Mind you she does not show any symptoms of TB, but has a scar from a surgery she needed, completely unrelated to TB.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Waiting234

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

We need a new area in the Reviews section to write these kinds of things. Or is it better that we don't report on Medical? It can get too personal maybe? Or maybe it will be bad and give away tactics the medical centers use to try and catch drug abusers, hence helping them into our country? I don't know...

i.e. "Reviews: Embassy/USCIS/POE/Medical"

I did lots of research when it came to the medical. I wanted to know what they do, what can I expect etc. It's extremely helpful to have these posts to reference. The medical centers aren't trying to "catch drug abusers", they're there to provide a service, and they don't do drug tests in Canada anyway. There's nothing secret about their procedure.

[Waiting234 18]

I did lots of research when it came to the medical. I wanted to know what they do, what can I expect etc. It's extremely helpful to have these posts to reference. The medical centers aren't trying to "catch drug abusers", they're there to provide a service, and they don't do drug tests in Canada anyway. There's nothing secret about their procedure.

We too did lots of research.

As for the drug testing, I personally do not want drug abusers to be allowed to enter our country until they are clean anyway, but they accused my fiancee of doing drugs because she had a tattoo and then they didn't do her urine test until a urgent call was received the day after her interview (and not sending in her medical results) without telling her what it was for, causing me to change my plane ticket ($150) and spend another $50 on gas for something she clearly tested negative for. The reason I went with her was because they already asked her to return three other days, so we had 5 days of medical that were completely pointless!

The delayed drug test is something I would not want to tell a drug abuser, or someone concerned about the drug test. It was clearly a tactic used to determine if she did drugs or not. Well, we passed. But I wouldn't want a drug abuser to pass...

Edited February 12, 2013 by Waiting234

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

We too did lots of research.

As for the drug testing, I personally do not want drug abusers to be allowed to enter our country until they are clean anyway, but they accused my fiancee of doing drugs because she had a tattoo and then they didn't do her urine test until a urgent call was received the day after her interview (and not sending in her medical results) without telling her what it was for, causing me to change my plane ticket ($150) and spend another $50 on gas for something she clearly tested negative for. The reason I went with her was because they already asked her to return three other days, so we had 5 days of medical that were completely pointless!

The delayed drug test is something I would not want to tell a drug abuser, or someone concerned about the drug test. It was clearly a tactic used to determine if she did drugs or not. Well, we passed. But I wouldn't want a drug abuser to pass...

If a drug abuser was taking a drug test specifically they wouldn't pass anyway.

But with regard to Canadian medical exams, they don't do drug tests. This is a review for Dr. Cheema and what to expect from him. He is the only Dr. that does the US immigration medical exams on the West Coast here. I'm sure many Canadians, myself included, would claim a violation of human rights if we were singled out for drug use because of a tattoo. I guess if I have a "I love meth" tattoo, that might be different.

[Waiting234 18]

If a drug abuser was taking a drug test specifically they wouldn't pass anyway.

But with regard to Canadian medical exams, they don't do drug tests. This is a review for Dr. Cheema and what to expect from him. He is the only Dr. that does the US immigration medical exams on the West Coast here. I'm sure many Canadians, myself included, would claim a violation of human rights if we were singled out for drug use because of a tattoo. I guess if I have a "I love meth" tattoo, that might be different.

Thank you, I feel relief to discuss my frustrations here. I too feel violated over this, but I am a slave to the system until her TB test result comes back and she can be with me in the US... For some reason they have to do the long culture form of this test in the DR, even without symptoms. They could have easily done a blood test, the skin test, or the 4 day sputum test... I read on the CDC website that a 4-6 week culture test is only done if the other tests are inconclusive and the person is essentially on their death bed. I also read that cross-contamination cases have been reported in the state of NJ. How I can trust that we're not going to be cross-contaminated and get a false positve, I don't know? We already went for our own, private versions of the blood and sputum tests and got negatives on both accounts (these tests were not run at the clinic). We would have also done a culture test if it were possible in her country. Due to the power issues, it is very difficult to find a lab that would do it. Even the mandatory clinic told us that. Our privately paid for results, however, do not apply. But they definitely will in a court of law if they force my future wife to go on such an antibiotic regiment and keep us seperated for 6 months or more... There really is no win here for the US government or the CDC because I am pissed. I just want to be with my fiance and my child. And know that my child can have the medical attention he needs in the case of an emergency...

Edited February 12, 2013 by Waiting234

[VeeNDee 44]

Thanks for the review of Dr. Cheema JensJrny2Ray. Not many people go to the West Coast office so it's always helpful to have updated information especially since he has only been the panel physician less than a year. Sounds just like what I remember - great staff when you are there but pretty unprofessional at replying to people before the appointment.

[NikLR 13,227]

Its good to read the review. I debate heavily going there or spending a week unneeded in Montreal so I can do the medical there. Have to number crunch!

[hikergirl 277]

Its good to read the review. I debate heavily going there or spending a week unneeded in Montreal so I can do the medical there. Have to number crunch!

I’ll have to do the number crunching as well but I have a bad feeling I’m going to be stuck going to Montréal for the week.

I hope in the future they re-think the one consulate policy for others at least.

[NikLR 13,227]

I'll have to do the number crunching as well but I have a bad feeling I'm going to be stuck going to Montréal for the week.

I hope in the future they re-think the one consulate policy for others at least.

It does help that I have family in BC and my mom has a time share in Vancouver we could hopefully use.To be honest, because I have to fly to Montreal anyhow, it's only about $200-300 cheaper. But I get the medical results in time and I get to see my mom before I move. If I drove to BC that would probably shave money off because driving is cheaper than flying but takes approx 20 hours vs 8 total way for flying. I just really worry about getting the medical results back in time for the interview.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

You will get the results after 4pm the following day of your exam.