Civil Surgeons are all dishonest???

[danyfra 0]

Alright,

I'm mad at all this civil surgeons that are supposed to be there to help us getting the right papers so we can adjust our status legaly.

here's what happened to me:

i got a K1 in august, come to the US in october, get married in november, and now trying to get everything to adjust my status.

but i miss the paper from my medical exam i had in july in france, so i can't provide the I-693A for my AOS.

I then start looking for civil surgeons that would be able to do it for me from my french vaccination record, according to the list of surgeons in NJ given on uscis website.

I called around, and first surprised: all the surgeons i'm calling wants me to have the full medical exam, or they won't even try to help.

prices vary from 150$ to 350$!!!!

So i picked the cheapest one, and get an appointment, after asking many times if the surgeon would be able to read french, and every time the answer was YES.

I went to my appointment (about 1h30 drive), paid my 150$, waited, get the medical exam, and when arrived the time to speak about vaccination, the surgeon just tell me: i'm not able to read this

Ok, after a few minutes talking, he said come back next week to see the other surgeon, maybe he'll be able to read it. he then made a copy of my french vaccination record for the other CS.

When i called, before the long drive, i asked the 'new' CS if he was able to read the french, and of course, not!!

So i said, alright, you made me a useless medical exam, so i want my money back.

they just laugh at me!!

So for those in NJ that need to see a Civil Surgeon, do not go to this one:

Southern Jersey Family Medical Center in Hammonton (white horse pike).

I called INS and here's what to do to complain:

write a letter to:

Assistant chief

Internal Sec. and investigative operation

USCIS 111

massachusetts Ave. NW Suit 7000

Washington DC 20529

also, send a complaint email to this adress: uscis-complaint@dhs.gov

The lady i talked to told me she had a lot of call from people having trouble with CS, so i think it's important to know we have a way and the right to complain.

Now, for my problem, i'm trying to get my french vaccination record translated, so maybe i'll find a surgeon nice enough to just fill in the form i need from that.

[Jas&Pat 0]

That is really not right.

Maybe file a complain with the BBB or some medical group that's similar?

I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through this.

[hanster 0]

what you can do is have someone translate your vaccination papers. Mine were also in french and I had them translated long ago and they used them. I know that a lot of the vaccine names in french are very close to the english names so the surgeon himself should be able to read and kinda get the idea, or you could even offer to read it off and translate it to him infront of him/her.

they are a bunch of thieves though, i had to pay $400 for my medical exam, including a TB skin test and chicken pox vaccine.

[danyfra 0]

what you can do is have someone translate your vaccination papers. Mine were also in french and I had them translated long ago and they used them. I know that a lot of the vaccine names in french are very close to the english names so the surgeon himself should be able to read and kinda get the idea, or you could even offer to read it off and translate it to him infront of him/her.

they are a bunch of thieves though, i had to pay $400 for my medical exam, including a TB skin test and chicken pox vaccine.

Well, i'm getting them translated now, so i hope a CS will be kind enough to accept to make me the form i need.

Of course i tried to translate my french record when i had the exam, but the CS didn't trust me. i even had a paper from the american embassy with the vaccinations needed in both french and english, so it was easy to translate to the CS, but he didn't care, he just wanted my money

[Cécy 44]

If you only need to translate, go to the webpage of the closet consulate or French embassy, they have a list of professionals who can do translations.

I did that for insurrance papers, and they are officially recognized.

It coasts around 10$ a page (depends on the translator) and it should be officially recognized (you have a stamp on it).

Probably better than dealing with medical staff that can't translate and will charge you that much.

Just make sure that translating it that way will work, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

Good luck in your fight against the medical office.

[danyfra 0]

If you only need to translate, go to the webpage of the closet consulate or French embassy, they have a list of professionals who can do translations.

I did that for insurrance papers, and they are officially recognized.

It coasts around 10$ a page (depends on the translator) and it should be officially recognized (you have a stamp on it).

Probably better than dealing with medical staff that can't translate and will charge you that much.

Just make sure that translating it that way will work, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

Good luck in your fight against the medical office.

Thanks, that's exactly what i did (i needed also my birth certificate to be translated so i asked the same translator from the french consulate webpage).

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

I wasn't happy with mine either......first with the misrepresentation of fees (it was $75.00 more than I was quoted over the phone and I HAD asked about extra fees) , second with the way he tried to throw me out of the office when I mentioned that the fees were misrepresented, third with the fact that he took no medical history and didn't perform an exam at all, fourth with him refusing to do my MMR vaccine, forcing me to search for a clinic and scramble to find a place that would do it, fifth with delaying returning the form to me because his office couldn't "find" my faxed vaccine record (was sent 4 times), until i pressured them to keep looking, and lastly for not being in the office when i went there as arranged to pick up the form and delaying me in receiving the application for 2 extra days. I think i'll file a complaint too.

[CanadaGirl 0]

That really sucks that the doctor would do that.

I could not find any doctors that would do just the supplemental form either. I finally printed out the USCIS website where it said that K3 did not need another medical and brought it to the office. They said find and charged me $75 to fill out the form.

I would agree with everyone that getting your documents translated is a good idea.

Good luck to you.

[sarah and hicham 3]

Can you contact the doctor's office who did your medical in France and ask them to send you the vaccination sheet they use I think it's I-3025 or something like that. It should be in English and then you can have someone transfer it to I-693 without paying for a new exam.

Good luck!

[danyfra 0]

Can you contact the doctor's office who did your medical in France and ask them to send you the vaccination sheet they use I think it's I-3025 or something like that. It should be in English and then you can have someone transfer it to I-693 without paying for a new exam.

Good luck!

Yeah i tried that first, but the doc in paris didn't keep record of my exam, only he sent me the result of the blood test....

And i brought the AOS form to show the doc here that i didn't need the physical exam, but they don't care, they know you need the form so you're ready to pay for it...

[Jenn! 918]

I think civil surgeons are to the medical profession what personal injury attorneys are to the law profession, as far as reputations go.

Edited December 10, 2006 by jenn3539

[choji 0]

I think civil surgeons are to the medical profession what personal injury attorneys are to the law profession, as far as reputations go.

That seems to be true.

I do not want to paint a whole branch of the medical profession in too black a color, but most CS seem to see their offices as a money printing press. It starts with the way they treat "patients" and ends with the despicable "service" they deliver.

Do they get away with it? Yes.

Why? Because they are dealing with people who have no choice but to use their services.

[joeyjoey 1]

danyfra

If there is a French Embassy in your city, you can take it there and they can "certify" the translation into English. That should make the process a piece of cake. It won't get your money back, but it will get you moving forward again!

joeyjoey

[sjoefl01 1]

They are not all bad. We got K1 and K2 I 693A's transferred from the DS 3025 and the CS did it for free. It took about a half hour of time from his office staff. I would gladly have paid a little bit but when we finished they said there was no charge.

[M. 0]

So for those in NJ that need to see a Civil Surgeon, do not go to this one:

Southern Jersey Family Medical Center in Hammonton (white horse pike).

Where in NJ are you?

I'd recommend the CS my husband used if you want to try another one - cost $80 for the medical; shots were additional, but he let us put most of the costs on our insurance as an annual physical (so we ended up only paying $160 out of pocket all together) and the doctor himself was very nice. He has two offices -- one in Camden and one in Lumberton.