My Medical Experience

[marriott574 13]

Dear All

I thought I would share my experience with the site to help others from making my mistake. I recently had my medical in London for the K1 Visa. I jave an exceptionally rare genetic condition. So far in the UK there are only 35 reported cases of my condition (I did say it was rare). It affects the eyes and limits vision.

I did not anticipate failing the medical based on this as i thought they would do an eye test and simple record the results. As it turns out you have to have a certain level of distance vision to pass the medical. I simply do not have the required level of vision.

I was asked to provide more documents, this proved very difficult. I had to prove that I was not undergoing any treatment for the condition. This was hard as there is no treatment for the condition and there is only one small team of doctors in the UK that even know my condition exists.

In the end I provided a Genetics Report along with a copy of all the correspondence for the last three years between my Doctor and the Specialist in London. I also had to provide a letter from my doctor stating that I was not receiving any treatment.

My advice is this.If you have a pre existing medical condition get a letter from your GP in advance with any copies of the correspondence between specialists. Also get a copy of the Summary of medical records. This is simply a print out from your GPs office and should be free.

And if you have an exceedingly rare genetic eye condition, (I guess thats just me) be prepared for a hard time to pass the medical.

PS I was told any leters over 12 months old where no longer valid not sure how true this statement is.

[lost_at_sea 995]

That's crazy. I mean, it sounds like they actually don't care if you "pass" the vision test or not - they just care if you're likely to need medical treatment for it abroad (which, coming from the States is rich since, it'd cost a considerable amount more for pretty much any procedure than it would on the NHS). Makes me wonder what the point of conducting tests is - why not just ask "are you receiving treatment for anything?".

Edited May 1, 2013 by lost_at_sea

[Azsara 110]

Im so sorry about your experience, how far is the vision test that you need to pass? My eyes are pretty terrible, at the opticians i can only read the first line unaided, but considerably more with contacts/ glasses

[marriott574 13]

Im so sorry about your experience, how far is the vision test that you need to pass? My eyes are pretty terrible, at the opticians i can only read the first line unaided, but considerably more with contacts/ glasses

It is a very unscientific test. basicly sit on the bed and read the chart on the wall. Whislt wearing your glasses or contacts. they got me to cover each eye with my hand. they wanted the 5th line reading. I dont think I could read the 5th line with my nose touching the test sheet.

Don't freak out about it but if you are worried I would pre-met it by getting your prescription records from the opticians. It is better to have to much information rather than not enough.

Please note I have really terrible eye sight.

Im so sorry about your experience, how far is the vision test that you need to pass? My eyes are pretty terrible, at the opticians i can only read the first line unaided, but considerably more with contacts/ glasses

The distance was about 3 to 4 meters.