A couple of AOS questions

[mac.brilliance 41]

Good day all

So i've been here in the US for a couple of months now and i'm trying to get my AOS packet together

 

a couple of questions:

 

Do people tend to include relationship evidence in this packet or do they wait til an interview? I''ve noticed nobody mentioning it, so i just want to confirm.

 

I had my medical in London in March and all i required was a tetanus booster which i elected to have from my local GP afterwards (saving myself some money i thought at the time) however this of course means my DS-3025 has my last tetanus as being over 10 years ago. I have a letter from my GP to prove i had the booster since. Do i still need to go see a Civil Surgeon? Frustrated at the thought of having to spend $300 on something when i thought i was saving money previously...

 

Thanks in advance!

[p-ana 933]

6 minutes ago, mac.brilliance said:

Good day all

So i've been here in the US for a couple of months now and i'm trying to get my AOS packet together

 

a couple of questions:

 

Do people tend to include relationship evidence in this packet or do they wait til an interview? I''ve noticed nobody mentioning it, so i just want to confirm.

 

I had my medical in London in March and all i required was a tetanus booster which i elected to have from my local GP afterwards (saving myself some money i thought at the time) however this of course means my DS-3025 has my last tetanus as being over 10 years ago. I have a letter from my GP to prove i had the booster since. Do i still need to go see a Civil Surgeon? Frustrated at the thought of having to spend $300 on something when i thought i was saving money previously...

 

Thanks in advance!

You can send relationship evidence but it’s not required. It’s really up to you.

Before I would read people saying it would help not to have an interview but now everyone’s been interviewed it’s kinda pointless. 

 

If your ds3025 was not marked complete at the time of your medical you’ll need to visit a civil surgeon in your area and have the i693 filled. Some of them will accept just doing that and will take your gp proof of the vaccine, some will require you to do a full medical, take vaccines, etc. But you can wait to do the medical, as you can take it to the interview instead of sending with your application 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

USCIS does not accept anything from your GP.  YES you need a civil surgeon to do your immunisation form. The civil surgeon will take things from your GP. Find one who will do only the immunisation form. Ask in advance by phone.

[mac.brilliance 41]

3 minutes ago, p-ana said:

You can send relationship evidence but it’s not required. It’s really up to you.

Before I would read people saying it would help not to have an interview but now everyone’s been interviewed it’s kinda pointless. 

 

If your ds3025 was not marked complete at the time of your medical you’ll need to visit a civil surgeon in your area and have the i693 filled. Some of them will accept just doing that and will take your gp proof of the vaccine, some will require you to do a full medical, take vaccines, etc. But you can wait to do the medical, as you can take it to the interview instead of sending with your application 

Okay ill Leave out evidence for the time being then.

 

i booked the appointment with the civil surgeon this weekend and they said I didn’t need to do the medical again (the first place i called said i did and i was like lol I’m not wasting time doing it all again) and just to redo the tb testing and stuff so thats better. Still gonna cost $300 tho. Bit peeved, if i had just had the booster in London I wouldn’t have this issue ^^

 

thanks for your help

[mac.brilliance 41]

1 minute ago, Wuozopo said:

USCIS does not accept anything from your GP.  YES you need a civil surgeon to do your immunisation form. The civil surgeon will take things from your GP. Find one who will do only the immunisation form. Ask in advance by phone.

Thank you! I have one booked and i checked with several, but in this area it seems common to have to do all the vaccine tests again.

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

20 minutes ago, mac.brilliance said:

Good day all

So i've been here in the US for a couple of months now and i'm trying to get my AOS packet together

 

a couple of questions:

 

Do people tend to include relationship evidence in this packet or do they wait til an interview? I''ve noticed nobody mentioning it, so i just want to confirm.

 

I had my medical in London in March and all i required was a tetanus booster which i elected to have from my local GP afterwards (saving myself some money i thought at the time) however this of course means my DS-3025 has my last tetanus as being over 10 years ago. I have a letter from my GP to prove i had the booster since. Do i still need to go see a Civil Surgeon? Frustrated at the thought of having to spend $300 on something when i thought i was saving money previously...

 

Thanks in advance!

 

By evidence it doesn't have to be a lot. We put in basics like showing we had a joint savings account (separate checking though), lease papers showing he was added as a tenant in our apartment. 

 

That was it I think, didn't have time to add to my medical plan or show him as main beneficiary of my life insurance or anything. Save that stuff for ROC I guess.

 

We didn't supply any other photos or anything, so didn't go too in depth with evidence, just enough to appease them.

[AshMarty 360]

37 minutes ago, mac.brilliance said:

Good day all

So i've been here in the US for a couple of months now and i'm trying to get my AOS packet together

 

a couple of questions:

 

Do people tend to include relationship evidence in this packet or do they wait til an interview? I''ve noticed nobody mentioning it, so i just want to confirm.

 

I had my medical in London in March and all i required was a tetanus booster which i elected to have from my local GP afterwards (saving myself some money i thought at the time) however this of course means my DS-3025 has my last tetanus as being over 10 years ago. I have a letter from my GP to prove i had the booster since. Do i still need to go see a Civil Surgeon? Frustrated at the thought of having to spend $300 on something when i thought i was saving money previously...

 

Thanks in advance!

We  only brought evidence to the interview (bank accounts, wedding photos, co mingling type things). The Marriage certificate was all we included in the initial AOS packet. We had no issues at all

Edited July 26, 2018 by AshMarty

[mac.brilliance 41]

3 minutes ago, AshMarty said:

We  only brought evidence to the interview (bank accounts, wedding photos, co mingling type things). The Marriage certificate was all we included in the initial AOS packet. We had no issues at all

Great, thank you so much! 

[JMK_IT 134]

You have to be unrelenting when speaking to civil surgeons.

 

I had just one missing vaccination (second MMR) and I did it at a Wallgreens when I arrived here in the U.S. 
After that, I got in touch with more than 30 civil surgeons (not exaggerating), and not a single one of them was willing to just follow the USCIS instructions, which clearly state that K-1 applicants who had their medical overseas DO NOT need to do the full medical examination again if they are filing I-485 within one year.

I only needed a doctor to file part 4, 6 and 9 of Form I-693 to state that I completed all the vaccinations required and I was asked up to $400 to do the same exam that I did 3 months ago. Unreal. 
It is very upsetting to see that most of them are not willing to comply with the government requirements, considering all the financial efforts the applicants are put through. I live in Miami, where ripoffs galore, so there's that, too.

 

In the end I was able to find a medical facility where employees were a little more knowledgeable about the immigration processes and they did the transcript for $150. It is still a whole lot of money, plus the $99 for the vaccination, for a total of $250 which is a higher price than the full medical I did back in Italy. 

 

I would suggest you to keep looking and when you call point out the fact that they are refusing to follow the USCIS instructions. $300 is a total waste of your money because all they have to do is to write down your vaccinations in the form and it's a matter of 5 minutes. You do not need to get the TB test again! USCIS already has your medical results from the UK and it's better if you don't send overlapping information. 

 

Good luck with everything!

[Diane and Chris 651]

6 hours ago, mac.brilliance said:

Thank you! I have one booked and i checked with several, but in this area it seems common to have to do all the vaccine tests again.

What are vaccine tests?

[Diane and Chris 651]

6 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

USCIS does not accept anything from your GP.  YES you need a civil surgeon to do your immunisation form. The civil surgeon will take things from your GP. Find one who will do only the immunisation form. Ask in advance by phone.

Will the DS 3025 form marked “complete” be acceptable if it’s over a year old?  I’m talking for the AOS interview. 

[AshMarty 360]

5 hours ago, Diane and Chris said:

What are vaccine tests?

They are called Titers. They test if you have a certain level of anti bodies from the vaccines. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

5 hours ago, Diane and Chris said:

Will the DS 3025 form marked “complete” be acceptable if it’s over a year old?  I’m talking for the AOS interview. 

Shots should be acceptable and an "old" K1 medical exam is more the question. Officers in the many offices across the US might have their own interpretation and knowledge of exactly what the rules say. Yes many accept and some have said totally weird things like "your medical is fine but your shots need an update." What? Shots don't expire except for tetanus every 10 years and God help us if you don't get that interview before 10 years. So the best bet is wait and see what your guy says and not go get a new medical "just in case" before the interview. If you find at the interview that your officer insists, then your delay to go comply is minimal. Your day to day life isn't gong to change much waiting an extra few weeks for the greencard to be issued. 

[AshMarty 360]

Per the Policy Manual here is how they define the validity of the Medical during the AOS process.  Hopefully this helps determine whether you need another medical or not. K1 apliciants already had a medical before entering the country via a Panel Physician so as long as you apply within a year of that overseas medical  you don't need a medical BEFORE submission BUT if your AOS case is not approved within a year of its submission than you may need to do a portion of the medical over per the USCIS policy manual. 

 

Hopefully this helps clarify anything regarding medicals and its validity before/after AOS submission.  See Below for policy I am referring to. 

 

4. Validity Period of Form I-693 (Including Use of Prior Versions)

Evidentiary Value

 

A person seeking an immigration benefit and who is subject to medical grounds of inadmissibility must establish that he or she is not inadmissible on medical grounds. ^[20] In general, those applying for immigration benefits while in the United States must use Form I-693 to show they are free from any conditions that would render them inadmissible. 

 

An officer may determine that the applicant has met the burden of proof required to establish that he or she is free from a medical condition that would render the applicant inadmissible if all of the following criteria are met:

 

•The medical exam was performed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon in accordance with HHS regulations;

•The medical examination report was properly completed; ^[21] 

•The medical examination report was submitted to USCIS less than one year after completion of the examination;^[22] 

•The benefit application ^[23] is adjudicated no more than one year after the date the medical examination report was submitted to USCIS; ^[24] and

•The medical examination report establishes that the applicant does not have a Class A medical condition and has complied with the vaccination requirements or is granted a waiver. ^[25] 

 

In general, if any one of the above criteria is not met, the applicant has not met the burden of proof required to establish that he or she is free of a medical condition that would render him or her inadmissible to the United States. In this case, the officer should follow standard operating procedures regarding issuance of an RFE or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) to address the deficiency. 

 

Special rules may apply to certain foreign nationals who were examined overseas, including certain nonimmigrant fiancé(e)s or spouses of U.S. citizens (K visa), spouses of lawful permanent residents (V visa), refugees, and asyleedependents. Such foreign nationals usually do not need to repeat the full medical exam in the United States for purposes of adjustment of status. ^[26] 

 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume8-PartB-Chapter4.html#footnote-24

Edited July 27, 2018 by AshMarty

[AshMarty 360]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

Shots should be acceptable and an "old" K1 medical exam is more the question. Officers in the many offices across the US might have their own interpretation and knowledge of exactly what the rules say. Yes many accept and some have said totally weird things like "your medical is fine but your shots need an update." What? Shots don't expire except for tetanus every 10 years and God help us if you don't get that interview before 10 years. So the best bet is wait and see what your guy says and not go get a new medical "just in case" before the interview. If you find at the interview that your officer insists, then your delay to go comply is minimal. Your day to day life isn't gong to change much waiting an extra few weeks for the greencard to be issued. 

I would agree with this statement because there is slight chance that your medical might expire post AOS submission, depending on how backed up the local office is for interviews, which would mean you would have to get it updated again.

 

I would wait for your "interview has been scheduled notice" which comes a month before your interview date before seeing a civil surgeon or you could go to the interview and be asked for an updated medical (which sounds fairly likely in the case that has been described). 

Edited July 27, 2018 by AshMarty