Medical Exam - what if it's been more than 12 months?

[riss 12]

Can anyone help me with more medical exam questions? I finally got my visa a few months ago but there have been all kinds of issues causing delays. I don't know if I'll get to the US and be married in time for my medical exam to still be valid - it was done on December 11th last year and we may not be married and ready to send in all the paperwork by then.

I'm not sure how this all works - for example, if we get married and send in our paperwork so that it arrives to USCIS before December 11th, 2013, will that be acceptable even though they will no doubt take a good few months to process it, by which time my medical will have expired? And if we are not married by that date and my medical expires, do I need to have another full medical exam performed in America, before I can send off my paperwork?

If anyone can give me some advice on this it would be most appreciated.

Riss

[stevie b 141]

Can anyone help me with more medical exam questions? I finally got my visa a few months ago but there have been all kinds of issues causing delays. I don't know if I'll get to the US and be married in time for my medical exam to still be valid - it was done on December 11th last year and we may not be married and ready to send in all the paperwork by then.

I'm not sure how this all works - for example, if we get married and send in our paperwork so that it arrives to USCIS before December 11th, 2013, will that be acceptable even though they will no doubt take a good few months to process it, by which time my medical will have expired? And if we are not married by that date and my medical expires, do I need to have another full medical exam performed in America, before I can send off my paperwork?

If anyone can give me some advice on this it would be most appreciated.

Riss

looks to me like it expired already

http://canberra.usembassy.gov/med_exam_instructions.html

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If it is expired then you will need a new medical at a USCIS-designated civil surgeon in the US.

If you file AOS before Dec 11 then the old medical will still be valid, even if it expires while AOS is pending. It may go by the NOA date so you might have to send it in a few weeks before then, for that medical to work.

[riss 12]

Stevie, thanks for that link. It's a bit confusing, everyone else seems to have told me that it had 12 months till expiry. It might be different for K-1?

Harpa, thank you for your help. Can I just ask - I wasn't quite sure what you meant by 'it may go by the NOA date'? How would that work?

I don't know if anyone here knows what happens when you get a second medical, but it'd be great if anyone has any experience/advice. Just wondering whether I would have to have all the shots done a second time, etc., costs involved, how I might be able to minimise what needs to be done, and so on.

Thanks everyone.

Riss.

[stevie b 141]

Stevie, thanks for that link. It's a bit confusing, everyone else seems to have told me that it had 12 months till expiry. It might be different for K-1?

Harpa, thank you for your help. Can I just ask - I wasn't quite sure what you meant by 'it may go by the NOA date'? How would that work?

I don't know if anyone here knows what happens when you get a second medical, but it'd be great if anyone has any experience/advice. Just wondering whether I would have to have all the shots done a second time, etc., costs involved, how I might be able to minimise what needs to be done, and so on.

Thanks everyone.

Riss.

medicals are totally country specific

if you have a question on yours specifically and did not get a recent petitioner to give you an Australian response then why not email the embassy and ask?

noa is basically your receipt.. noa1 around here is also your priority date.. kind of different thingys but talking about the same thing

you will NOT need more shots lol.. you are all done. maybe another xray and of course the regular physical pee in a cup stuff

good luck

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Stevie, thanks for that link. It's a bit confusing, everyone else seems to have told me that it had 12 months till expiry. It might be different for K-1?

Harpa, thank you for your help. Can I just ask - I wasn't quite sure what you meant by 'it may go by the NOA date'? How would that work?

I don't know if anyone here knows what happens when you get a second medical, but it'd be great if anyone has any experience/advice. Just wondering whether I would have to have all the shots done a second time, etc., costs involved, how I might be able to minimise what needs to be done, and so on.

The link that Stevie B linked is wrong. Which is a bit weird seeing it's the official site. Medicals are valid for 12 months. Visas are only valid for 6 months, and the link says if your medical is less than 6 months your visa will be less than 6 months (which is correct)... yet if in EVERY case they're only valid for 6 months, unless you get the medical done on the exact date you interview EVERY visa would be less than 6 months (and mine wasn't). I had my medical done on July 17, 2009. I interviewed August 28, 2009. My visa was valid for 6 months.

I wasn't able to file AOS until April 2010. i sent only the immunisations (did not have a new medical). Again, if only valid for 6 months then I would have needed an entire new medical.

Long story short - if you can get your AOS filed and NOA1 (AOS receipt) dated prior to your medical expiring, you may not need a whole new medical.

If you can't get your AOS filed in time, then you will need an entire new medical completed on form I-693. You should take your shot record so you don't get ones you don't need. You won't need the shots repeated but you will need everything else redone (and here in the US that includes a TB skin test). As for cost, that varies by CS. I know a lady charged like $1500!! He was the only doc in the area so she didn't have many options.

[stevie b 141]

OUCH

I always go to the embassy site for information

my bad

no wait

us embassy bad!

thanks V&T!

Edited September 18, 2013 by stevie b

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Can anyone help me with more medical exam questions? I finally got my visa a few months ago but there have been all kinds of issues causing delays. I don't know if I'll get to the US and be married in time for my medical exam to still be valid - it was done on December 11th last year and we may not be married and ready to send in all the paperwork by then.

You have just under 3 months to get to the US and married. You can get married in the courthouse as soon as the waiting time is up (if there is no waiting time, as soon as you land). Ask them about getting the marriage certificate asap to mail with the application and mail it all off the following day.

You can work on the forms from here so you only need to print and sign once you get to the US.

OUCH

I always go to the embassy site for information

my bad

no wait

us embassy bad!

thanks V&T!

Not your bad at all! totally the embassies fault. It makes no sense for the medical to only be valid for 6 months when the visa is valid for 6 months. There's no leeway. It's a bit weird really... maybe it's changed and no-one at the embassy got the memo from the people who wrote the site?

[stevie b 141]

Not your bad at all! totally the embassies fault. It makes no sense for the medical to only be valid for 6 months when the visa is valid for 6 months. There's no leeway. It's a bit weird really... maybe it's changed and no-one at the embassy got the memo from the people who wrote the site?

maybe the OP can turn table on the CO and put him/her on the defense?

[riss 12]

hey, thanks a lot for your help, stevie and vanessa. i've been a bit caught up with things and hadn't checked back in here for a little bit! packing, packing, packing. i'll probably be back in a while to ask a few more questions. based on the way things are going, it looks like i would end up having to do a second medical.