Long wait for medical exam in Peru; make your appointment now!

[LoboMarino30 1]

Hi everyone,

Just a head's up: Peru seems to be incredibly slow right now for medical exams. There are only TWO certified doctors (both in Lima), and they seem to be swamped right now (plus at least the one my fiance went to only does exams Monday- Wednesday). When my fiance called on July 25th, the earliest appointment he could get from either was for August 26th. He begged for an earlier appointment (to be before his visa interview) so that we could keep our planned wedding date, but to no avail. Today they told him that normally it would take five days before they'd have his results ready, but since this Friday is a holiday, he won't have his results until Monday.

So, lesson of the story: make your medical exam appointments AS SOON AS YOU CAN!

Here's a link to the page for anyone with an upcoming interview:

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/medical/LMA-MED-MULT-0008-1308.pdf

Good luck everyone.

[pachacuti 154]

I second this. There are only 2 doctors. As soon as you can, make your appointment. I would suggest starting to make an appt when your case is leaving NVC.

[mechanicalshasta 1]

This is scary. The ceac website says our case is "in transit" so does that mean my fiance should schedule an appointment? Do we need anything to schedule?

[mechanicalshasta 1]

I second this. There are only 2 doctors. As soon as you can, make your appointment. I would suggest starting to make an appt when your case is leaving NVC.

My fiancee just called to make an appointment and they told her she couldn't make an appointment without an interview date. Is there a way to find out or do we have to wait until the emabassy receives our case?

[pachacuti 154]

This is scary. The ceac website says our case is "in transit" so does that mean my fiance should schedule an appointment? Do we need anything to schedule?

I would go ahead and schedule. Not too close in though. I would probably make the appointment for 4 weeks or so out.

You don't need anything to make the appointment, but you need your embassy appointment letter when you show up for the medical (hence the waiting a while, since you need to allow for the case to get to Lima and for Lima to enter it).

[LoboMarino30 1]

Hi again,

First, to clarify: I didn't mean to make anyone panic; this is particularly bad for my fiance and me because we were desperately trying to stick to a very constrained timeline so that we could keep our planned wedding date of Sept. 1st, which we now know is not going to happen. For those of you who have a bit more flexibility, it shouldn't be as much of a problem (although of course I understand your anxiety to be with your loved ones again!). I just wanted to warn everyone that it's taking quite a while to first get an appointment, and then to get the results, so that you can plan accordingly.

Second, update: my fiance went back to the doctor's office today to beg and see if there was any way to get faster results, and the answer is no, it absolutely takes 5 days (and in our case, until Monday, since Friday's a national holiday; please forgive me Santa Rosa de Lima for cursing you).

Third, you don't need any of the interview information (case number, etc.) to set up your medical exam appointment; they will ask if you have an interview date though, since they don't want the system flooded for no reason. Again, don't panic. I'm not recommending setting up a medical appointment BEFORE you get your interview date; I'm just advocating for setting it up THE DAY YOU GET YOUR DATE.

However, with that in mind, I also advocate for checking with the embassy if you know you've been approved but haven't heard yet from the embassy. In our case, my fiance (in Peru) never received anything, and had I not emailed the embassy, we wouldn't have known of his appointment date for another two weeks. Here's the automated message from the embassy (limaiv@state.gov, by the way, if you're trying to email them):

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Our response time is within five (5) working days. We apologize that it cannot be quicker at this time. Please do not send duplicate inquiries since this will further delay the response time.



We encourage petitioners and applicants to check the status of their immigrant and fiancé(e) visa cases via the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) weblink: https://ceac.state.gov/CEAC/ <https://ceac.state.gov/CEAC/> .



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You may be able to find answers to many of your questions about the immigrant visa process on our website: Immigrant Visas <http://lima.usembassy.gov/iv.html> .



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Immigrant Visa Information (visas for permanent immigration to the U.S.)



If, following a review of all information provided, you still have an inquiry regarding a specific issue with an immigrant visa case pending at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, please send an additional email to LimaIV@state.gov with the following information:

* For Immigrant Visa (including Fiancée) Cases:

o The subject line must contain "IV Inquiry", the case number (with prefix of LMA), and the applicant's last name.

o The first paragraph must include the full names of the petitioner and the applicant, the type of visa and your contact information.

· To cancel an appointment that was already scheduled:

o The subject line must contain "IV appointment cancellation."

o Be sure to include your case number (with prefix of LMA), the principal applicant's name and a local phone number or e-mail contact.

· If you missed your appointment:

o The subject line must contain "missed IV appointment."

o Be sure to include your case number (with prefix of LMA), the principal applicant's name and a local phone number or e-mail contact.

· For early appointment requests and visa scheduling concerns:

o The subject line must contain "early appointment."

o Be sure to include your case number (with prefix of LMA), the principal applicant's name and a local phone number or e-mail contact.

Please note that we are not able to provide routine status updates on the more than 5,000 cases that we handle annually, nor we are able to respond to routine questions regarding whether or not we have received your case from the NVC. Please contact NVC at: NVCinquiry@state.gov



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If your question was not answered above, please direct inquiries regarding the following to the corresponding unit/agency indicated below.

Please visit the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website <http://www.uscis.gov> or send an email to peru.uscis@dhs.gov to contact the USCIS regional office in Peru, for the following information:

· Visa Petitions

· Where and how to file petitions

· Waiver Applications

· Citizenship and Immigration Services

· Humanitarian Parole

· Deceased Petitioner

· Received a notice before or after visa interview that petition is being reconsidered by the Department of Homeland Security

· Expired green card

· Green card holder who has been out of the U.S. for more than one year

Please visit the Non-Immigrant Visa Unit (NIV) website <http://lima.usembassy.gov/niv.html> , for information about student, tourist, business, temporary employment visas and exchange visits.



Please visit the American Citizens Services (ACS) Unit website <http://lima.usembassy.gov/service.html> for the following information:

· U.S. passports

· Registration of U.S. citizens born in Peru

· Certificate of legal capacity to marry

· Issues related to Social Security

· Other services for U.S. Citizens

Thank you.

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I waited a week before contacting them after I had gotten notice that the NVC was sending the petition to the embassy, since we hadn't heard anything. The embassy was good about quickly responding (the above was from an immediate automated message, and I got an email from a real person within 24 hours), but NOT good about actually responding to my questions. They always responded to some things, but not others, without any real rhyme or reason as to why the answered the way they did. But an interview date is a big thing, and mail is frequently lost in Peru (or perhaps never sent) so if you don't hear anything for a week, I'd email them.

Like I said, it took us a month to get a medical exam appointment, and they're saying it's absolutely a minimum of 5 DAYS for processing the results. If your exam is before your visa interview, you'll be able to take the results with you to your interview. Otherwise, at the interview they'll advise you that you can have them shipped (for no extra charge) through DHL to the embassy, and they'll tell you how to do that. Since we're trying to get him here as quickly as possible, my fiance is going back to the doctor's office on Monday to pick up the results and then hand deliver them to the embassy, and then picking up the visa from the main DHL hub (in Callao) once it's ready instead of waiting for it to be sent to him, but for people with more flexible schedules, it's probably easier just to wait.

Again, please don't panic. I just wanted others to be able to plan accordingly. I hope this helps. Good luck everyone.

[jenni17 36]

My fiancee just called to make an appointment and they told her she couldn't make an appointment without an interview date. Is there a way to find out or do we have to wait until the emabassy receives our case?

They told my fiance this too... make it anyway, we made the appt before having the letter and had no problems. They won't however give you the exam if you don't have the letter in person on the day of, but if your case is in transit and they're booking a month out, you should be fine. Note that the embassy will let you pick the packet up in person rather than waiting for it to arrive in the mail, just send them an email once your ceac status shows that it's arrived... they even told us our interview date via email before going to pick the packet up

[mechanicalshasta 1]

They told my fiance this too... make it anyway, we made the appt before having the letter and had no problems. They won't however give you the exam if you don't have the letter in person on the day of, but if your case is in transit and they're booking a month out, you should be fine. Note that the embassy will let you pick the packet up in person rather than waiting for it to arrive in the mail, just send them an email once your ceac status shows that it's arrived... they even told us our interview date via email before going to pick the packet up

Really good info, thank you for sharing, I'll let my fiancee know and hopefully we can get an appointment!

[mechanicalshasta 1]

Update: Fiancee called again today to make an appointment and got one for the Sept 17th, feeling really lucky and now crossing our fingers that our case arrives at the embassy soon!

[LoboMarino30 1]

Excellent! Also: the embassy can email you the packet information (it just includes the letter for the embassy interview appointment, a list of instructions, and a pamphlet on things to look out for with domestic abuse). In our case, it's a good thing they did, since my fiance JUST received his packet (i.e., two weeks AFTER his interview). Good luck!