Medical Review - Dr. Ian Zatzman

[JlovesA 109]

The medical reviews on this site for really helpful for me preparing for my medical so I thought I would include mine. Hopefully it'll be of some value to people.

 

I had my medical exam for my CR-1 visa yesterday at 2:15pm with Dr. Ian Zatzman in Maple, ON (AKA Richmond Hill AKA Toronto suburbs). I was able to book it online and got confirmation within an hour or two that my appointment time was approved.

 

Finding the building is straight-forward enough. The parking lot isn't huge but it's free. There's a Tim Hortons in the plaza which could be handy if you need to fill your bladder for the urine sample!

 

Dr. Zatzman's waiting area is quite cramped as it's long and narrow. Almost everybody in the waiting room was there for a visa medical. I arrived at 1:30pm which turned out to be a good thing because it took the receptionist awhile to enter everything into the computer. I brought 4 passport photos, my interview letter, my passport, and my vaccine records. She took copies of everything and gave the originals back (minus the photos). The fee to Dr. Zatzman's office was $240 + $20 to courier the results. They take cash or debit.

 

I was called in about 2:20pm and the part with the doctor himself was very quick. As others have mentioned, he's a friendly guy and likes to chit chat about where you're moving. He even asked me if I'm on VisaJourney after I had said I already knew what the medical would be like.  He transcribed my vaccine records onto a form, asked about any health issues or surgeries, checked my blood pressure, and listened to my heart really quickly. The whole thing was maybe 5-7 minutes.

 

For anyone who is nervous about the question about drugs and alcohol, the way it was worded to me was, "Have you ever had any drug or alcohol problems?" 

 

After that, he gave me some forms and I had to go downstairs for the next part. The x-ray office is different from the blood and urine sample office, but they're both on the first floor. Both were very quick to get in and out. The x-ray cost $60 and I was able to pay with debit. The blood and urine sample was $18.10, and I paid that with debit as well.

 

I was back in my car by about 2:55pm.

 

All in all it was really simple. I had been worried about not having all the vaccines but I was able to get my immunization record from public health immediately when I called. If anyone else is like me and lost their immunization booklet thing from childhood, just call or go to your local public health office. When I called the one in my hometown, she told me I can call any of them in Ontario and they have access to it. She emailed it to me no problem.

 

If you have any questions, let me know or PM me!

[Niagara1 2]

Nice. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Also can you please share your interview experience as well once you will done.

All the very best for your interview :-)

 

Thanks

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Mentioning the maple area makes me home sick  I lived in aurora for many years.

[Nalyne 0]

Hi just wanna ask what if I don't have immunization record. Thank u 

[JlovesA 109]

13 minutes ago, Nalyne said:

Hi just wanna ask what if I don't have immunization record. Thank u 

 

Are you in Ontario? If you are, you can call your local public health office and they'll get your record to you asap. That was my experience, anyway! It may be similar in other provinces.

 

If you don't have that, you can try getting it from your doctor (if he or she administered the vaccines). If not, you will just have to pay for the vaccines at the appointment.

[Nalyne 0]

Yes I am in ontario. The prob is I'm not canadian. I'm worker since 2015. Maybe will just pay to the appointment doctor?Do u have any idea how much probably the cost?Thank u 

[JlovesA 109]

9 hours ago, Nalyne said:

Yes I am in ontario. The prob is I'm not canadian. I'm worker since 2015. Maybe will just pay to the appointment doctor?Do u have any idea how much probably the cost?Thank u 

 

Are you not able to get vaccine records from your home country?

 

I don't know the exact cost, sorry. The exam itself is about $300 (or at least it was where I went). I don't know how much the vaccines are, you'd have to google around or call the doctor you plan to see.

[Kim & Zak 195]

Not sure if your'e still active, but this helped a lot! My fiance has to fly into Toronto, since he's from Manitoba, and I was freaking out about being able to get the xrays and labs done along with the medical (I had seen some other countries split it up).

 

One question, though, you mentioned courier service.. how long did it take to get the results mailed to you? 

[JlovesA 109]

4 hours ago, kas634 said:

Not sure if your'e still active, but this helped a lot! My fiance has to fly into Toronto, since he's from Manitoba, and I was freaking out about being able to get the xrays and labs done along with the medical (I had seen some other countries split it up).

 

One question, though, you mentioned courier service.. how long did it take to get the results mailed to you? 

I'm really glad to hear this helped you!

 

I have a more detailed timeline in my profile which is good because I didn't actually remember! According to my profile timeline, I received the results 9 days later, but that was within Ontario FYI. Good luck with everything! Let me know if you need anything else. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by JlovesA

[JenniferCP 1]

This was super helpful. Thank you! I have my appointment booked with Dr. Ian Zatzman in a few weeks and was wondering how the whole process works. This definitely set my mind at ease. Also, thank you for posting about how to access my immunization records. I've been looking for that little yellow booklet everywhere. Fingers crossed everything goes well and I can be in Texas with my husband shortly after the new year. Thanks again :)

[arielaj 1]

Thank you so much! Was looking into this topic and found this forum!

Great info, helped a lot!

[rainbow-skies 130]

For the immunization record, are loose/individual sheets of each immunization fine? I am a Registered Nurse and have all my loose sheets. I also have a one-document summary with each immunization name and the date I have received them, from my occupational health and safety office at the hospital I work at. Do you think they will accept this?

 

By the way, this forum is very helpful! I am from Ontario and just filed my I-130 to move to Florida to be with my wife. So the medical exam I know is months away, but I want to be prepared and not have to scramble last minute.

 

Thanks,

 

Mel

[JlovesA 109]

45 minutes ago, rainbow-skies said:

For the immunization record, are loose/individual sheets of each immunization fine? I am a Registered Nurse and have all my loose sheets. I also have a one-document summary with each immunization name and the date I have received them, from my occupational health and safety office at the hospital I work at. Do you think they will accept this?

 

By the way, this forum is very helpful! I am from Ontario and just filed my I-130 to move to Florida to be with my wife. So the medical exam I know is months away, but I want to be prepared and not have to scramble last minute.

 

Thanks,

 

Mel

My guess is that the loose papers would be fine. All the doctor does is take the proof of vaccines and mark them off on the medical form. My flu shot and tetanus boosters were loose papers I had as well (since they were more recent), and there was no issue with that. IIRC, my tetanus booster was just a sheet of paper with my doctor's name, which vaccine she administered, and the date. It wasn't on fancy letterhead or anything like that. I think as long as your papers seem legit, you'll be fine. 

 

Good luck with your petition! If you're still nervous when the time comes for the medical, you can always call the panel physician's office and ask their thoughts, but it sounds like you have that part in order already anyway.

[onepr1cklypear 16]

Thanks for sharing with us your experience! I am a little worried about my vaccination records. I got my records from my province, but not sure if they are up to date etc. How do they go about that - the vaccines and boosters being up to date? or how did you go about that? 

[rainbow-skies 130]

Hello All!

 

I am just hoping someone could help me out with two things:

 

1) Does anyone know if Ian Zatzman does immigration medicals for CR1/Spousal visa applicants, or is it solely for K1/Fiance? (I am doing CR1)

2) It says I need to bring 5 passport-style photos to this medical exam. Does Dr Zatzman keep them all? I only got four copies of my passport-style photo (taken in March 2021). Should I make more copies as I am going to need 5 for the medical exam and then another 2 for the interview?

 

My wife and I submitted all over documents to NVC about 2 weeks ago. Now we are waiting for them to review everything and then hopefully get an interview date soon.

 

Thank you kindy! 

 

Melissa