London medical

[Lisi 3]

My fiancé and I were talking about the medical process and I was telling him that he will have to go to London for the medical. We think its a bit unsual for him to have to go to London just for a medical when he has a personal doctor in his town. Can't his doctor just do the medical? Also, is it possible for him to schedule the medical and the interview side by side that way he doesn't have to go back and forth between his town and London? Thanks in advance!

[PerditaD 35]

You can get the info you need here:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3739.html#Preparing_for_med_exam

and here:

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/medical/LND-MED-ENGL-0001-1203.pdf

Really not sure about scheduling both for the same day as some in some countries (or all) it is required that medical results are sent directly to the embassy and not given to the beneficiary and that can take a few days.

Edited July 7, 2013 by PerditaD

[lynndy38 64]

You have to see the London doctors for the medical, a local doctor cannot do it.

I haven't read about anyone managing to have their medical and interview on the same day, Im sure you only get allocated an interview after the embassy has received the medical results anyway.

Most of the UK applicants had to travel to London and back twice....more expense but nothing you can do about it I'm afraid.

[JP and Tee 13]

the embassy has a list of panel doctors and you'd need to go to them only. You can however do your vaccinations at your local doctors and bring the records to the panel doctor. That's how they do it in Malaysia and so far, the panel doctor hasn't had any problem in accepting records of previous vaccinations. Do check with your panel doctor if that's the case for London as well. Cheers!

[HG&TG 4]

My fiancé and I were talking about the medical process and I was telling him that he will have to go to London for the medical. We think its a bit unsual for him to have to go to London just for a medical when he has a personal doctor in his town. Can't his doctor just do the medical? Also, is it possible for him to schedule the medical and the interview side by side that way he doesn't have to go back and forth between his town and London? Thanks in advance!

I am afraid he can't unless his doctor is one of the panel physicians.

Another thing is that to get the results of his medical (blood test and X-ray) in my case, it took a week before they sent it all to the consulate.

So I don't think it will be possible for him to schedule the medical and the interview side by side.

My advice is to call the panel physican to find out, because I might be wrong.

Patience is a virtue even though it is hard to be patient. Trust me I have been there.

Good luck!

[Lisi 3]

Thanks for the links PerditaD! That was just the info I was looking for!

Most of the UK applicants had to travel to London and back twice....more expense but nothing you can do about it I'm afraid.

Sadly, that's what he's going to have to do! He lives in Wolverhampton, so it's a shame that he is going to have to travel to London twice. The things we do for love, huh? It's such a bummer that given the price this visa costs, and the time and effort we're put into it, that someone...somewhere couldn't just make the process a smiiiiidge easier for everyone involved! Oh well!

[Christi85 86]

Thanks for the links PerditaD! That was just the info I was looking for!

Sadly, that's what he's going to have to do! He lives in Wolverhampton, so it's a shame that he is going to have to travel to London twice. The things we do for love, huh? It's such a bummer that given the price this visa costs, and the time and effort we're put into it, that someone...somewhere couldn't just make the process a smiiiiidge easier for everyone involved! Oh well!

It's been a while since I went through the CR-1 process at the London Consulate (early 2011), but as far as I remember, the Consulate wanted you to have the medical completed prior to the interview. If you happened to go to the interview and you hadn't had your medical yet, they wouldn't process your paperwork that day and wouldn't conduct the interview until you had completed the medical, so they would ask you to reschedule the interview.

I remember they changed the rules a couple months before we underwent the process, as they used to allow applicants to have the medical and the interview on the same day, and they would just delay issuing the visa until they received the applicant's medical file from the clinic (which takes about a week). I imagine this way must have been more complicated for them logistically speaking, so they must have decided to make it easier for themselves (and harder for applicants...).

So yes, it sounds like he may have to travel to London and back twice - I know it's a pain, but better safe than sorry. Good luck with your visa!

[C-ma'am 684]

**Post moved from K1 main to UK. Question is embassy specific.

[Lisi 3]

the embassy has a list of panel doctors and you'd need to go to them only. You can however do your vaccinations at your local doctors and bring the records to the panel doctor. That's how they do it in Malaysia and so far, the panel doctor hasn't had any problem in accepting records of previous vaccinations. Do check with your panel doctor if that's the case for London as well. Cheers!

Cheers! I will have him check with his doctor to see if they can get his vaccination records to bring with him for the medical.

Patience is a virtue even though it is hard to be patient. Trust me I have been there.

Good luck!

THANK YOU! Patience is definitely a virtue through this whole process! It's really great to come to this forum to get questions answered. It's good to know that I'm not alone in this journey, and others have gone through the exact thing I'm going through!

It's been a while since I went through the CR-1 process at the London Consulate (early 2011), but as far as I remember, the Consulate wanted you to have the medical completed prior to the interview. If you happened to go to the interview and you hadn't had your medical yet, they wouldn't process your paperwork that day and wouldn't conduct the interview until you had completed the medical, so they would ask you to reschedule the interview.

I remember they changed the rules a couple months before we underwent the process, as they used to allow applicants to have the medical and the interview on the same day, and they would just delay issuing the visa until they received the applicant's medical file from the clinic (which takes about a week). I imagine this way must have been more complicated for them logistically speaking, so they must have decided to make it easier for themselves (and harder for applicants...).

So yes, it sounds like he may have to travel to London and back twice - I know it's a pain, but better safe than sorry. Good luck with your visa!

Thanks so much! Better to be safe than sorry is the way to go!!!

[loughrey101 13]

You won't be able to schedule the medical and interview on the same day as the London embassy now requires you to have the results in hand on the day of the interview. But it would take a week to have all the results and x-ray back so you'd need to book the medical at least a week prior to the interview.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Lisi--

The answer for the UK because each consulate is different.

One doctor office is approved for visa medicals. Knightsbridge Doctors in London.

No interview will be assigned for a K1 until the embassy has received the results.

For more London info, see the pinned thread at the top of this UK forum --K1s from NOA2 to interview. Don't wait until NOA 2 to learn the London process. Post 1 has a list to work on.

[JP and Tee 13]

Cheers! I will have him check with his doctor to see if they can get his vaccination records to bring with him for the medical.

THANK YOU! Patience is definitely a virtue through this whole process! It's really great to come to this forum to get questions answered. It's good to know that I'm not alone in this journey, and others have gone through the exact thing I'm going through!

Thanks so much! Better to be safe than sorry is the way to go!!!

Oh and if you can get the contact details for the embassy panel doctors in London, pls contact and ask them if it's a good idea to get his vaccinations done before he goes for the medical exam. I was worried since I was told it'd take 4 days to get the results and I'm not sure if I'm going to have all the vaccinations done before my interview (i thought i have to), so I emailed (since calling didn't get me anywhere -- clinic didn't even pick up!) and the doctor told me that i won't need all of the vaccinations because :

i- i am pregnant -- I had a tetanus shot recently and that was all needed

ii- the doctor will determine whats appropriate for you according to your age

iii- if you have previous records, that means you won't need to get some vaccinations

So this could be the case for you as well.

So my advice would be, contact them first before you go to to your own GP to get the vaccinations since a friend of mine did just that, spent a few hundred and was told later on by the panel doctor that she need not do all of them as some can be done once you've reached the US which in my case, would be what I'd be doing (since I'm pregnant and the doctor said they're not advisable for now).

Also find out if you need the interview letter to do the med exam. Ours won't even consider giving us an appointment without the letter!

Cheers, hope this helps!

[lost_at_sea 995]

Oh and if you can get the contact details for the embassy panel doctors in London, pls contact and ask them if it's a good idea to get his vaccinations done before he goes for the medical exam. I was worried since I was told it'd take 4 days to get the results and I'm not sure if I'm going to have all the vaccinations done before my interview (i thought i have to), so I emailed (since calling didn't get me anywhere -- clinic didn't even pick up!) and the doctor told me that i won't need all of the vaccinations because :

i- i am pregnant -- I had a tetanus shot recently and that was all needed

ii- the doctor will determine whats appropriate for you according to your age

iii- if you have previous records, that means you won't need to get some vaccinations

So this could be the case for you as well.

So my advice would be, contact them first before you go to to your own GP to get the vaccinations since a friend of mine did just that, spent a few hundred and was told later on by the panel doctor that she need not do all of them as some can be done once you've reached the US which in my case, would be what I'd be doing (since I'm pregnant and the doctor said they're not advisable for now).

Also find out if you need the interview letter to do the med exam. Ours won't even consider giving us an appointment without the letter!

Cheers, hope this helps!

Word of note on this to the OP - you may still want to have your vaccinations done in the UK before the K1 medical even though you're not required to have a complete vaccination history in order to get your K1.

You will need a full vaccination sheet with everything appropriate to your age and condition acquired for AoS and if you didn't do them in the UK and get them signed off during the K1 medical (and get the appropriate form to prove it) you'll have to do them in the US with an approved surgeon there and you can bet your bottom dollar it'll cost you a lot more in the US than it will to have them done for free on the NHS (plus, doing it all now is one less thing to worry about organising once you're state-side).

For London: You do not need the interview letter for the medical exam, as for K1 the interview will not be scheduled until *after* the medical results have been received by the embassy. The two things you need to schedule your medical in London are your LND number and your police certificate.

[Jeannie & Al 18]

Thanks for the links PerditaD! That was just the info I was looking for!

Sadly, that's what he's going to have to do! He lives in Wolverhampton, so it's a shame that he is going to have to travel to London twice. The things we do for love, huh? It's such a bummer that given the price this visa costs, and the time and effort we're put into it, that someone...somewhere couldn't just make the process a smiiiiidge easier for everyone involved! Oh well!

We feel your pain there Lisi - my fiance has to travel twice from Cardiff which is 2 1/2 hours by car at a minimum each way...he's thinking he may stay with a friend near London the night before to make sure he can be there early...

Doesn't seem like anything about this process is easy even when we get there..it seems like they should be able to streamline things a bit but then again, I don't think they want it to be too easy...like you said, it's what we do just to be together for love.

[Landon Ricketts 0]

It's pretty much the first question (or one of the first) on the FAQs. You can't have it done by anyone else. I recently tried to see if I could get an exception made to avoid a 5 hour car journey but they just said it wasn't possible, so I also have to go to London twice. Well, once more now. I had my medical last Friday so I have to go back for the interview, once I receive my date.