My K1 Knightsbridge London Medical Experience

[JunkTardis 183]

Hello! I thought I'd publish my start to finish experience of going through the K1 Visa Medical, I am sure it will be pretty detailed so hold on to your butts. 

 

In late July I booked my appointment by calling Knightstbridge with my LND number from the NVC. The soonest date I was offered was Tuesday 27th August, so there was about a 1 month wait on booking. That was okay though, as it allowed me to do a little bit extra overtime and increase my savings prior to the bill.

 

August 13th rolled around and so I pre-booked train tickets, a rather steep amount as it was a 450 mile round trip. I had initially planned to take a 9:30am train, but decided last minute to go an hour earlier, which was a sensible decision.

I left my house at 8am, did the 2 mile bike ride to the train station, and set off. I arrived in London Paddington for 11:30am. Unsurprisingly, both trains were 20minutes late which is consistant with the UK train service you can expect to receive. I am familiar with the London Underground and how to get to where I needed to, but for those worrying about getting lost: Don't. It's dead easy. If you're coming by train, before you exit Paddington near the smokers corner, head down to Bakerloo Line (Southbound) and take it for 3 stops til you get to Baker Street. Then you simply switch onto the Jubilee Line (Southbound) until you reach Bond Street. I arrived on Bond Street at about 12:15pm, so with time to spare I decided to get some food from Pret, just around the corner from the Bond Street station. From here, it was about a 7 minute walk to Bentinck Street, and the first building you see is 11 Bentinck Street, which in the e-mail from Knightsbridge is the building to look out for. I was there! Alas, it was only 12:40pm, so I was almost an hour too early for my appointment! However, conveniently around the corner, past the Korean Streetfood shop there is a Pub where you can get a free water, recharge your phone, sit and wait or use the toilet. 

 

Knightsbridge Doctors from the front

 

 

Press the buzzer for Flat 4 here, it is all clearly marked.

 

 

The Appointment

 

I arrived promptly for 1pm to my 1:30pm appointment, as I expected to be filling out paperwork. I was told to go and wait in the waiting room, which was pretty comfortable with big leather sofa's and water refreshment. At your designated appointment time, you are supposed to come back up to the desk. It's at this point that you will be asked to provide any documentation that you have. You're probably familiar with the list already, but what you will need is:

 

• Passport (Bring your original, and they like a copy - if you do not have this, they will make one)
• 4 US or UK style passport photo's. (Mine was a copy, I used a photobooth locally to get US Visa Photo's and did a colour scan onto photo paper to save costs)
• ACRO Police Certificate (I did not even bring the original, a copy of this will suffice)
• Vaccination Records (Mine was again, a copy)
• Completed Medical Questionnaire (Link is found in your email from Knightsbridge) - ALSO: DO DOWNLOAD THIS STRAIGHT FROM THE EMAIL, THEY UPDATE THIS PERIODICALLY AND THE ONE I HAD FROM 4 MONTHS AGO WAS OUTDATED, BUT I CAUGHT IT IN TIME. 
• Something legitimate with your LND case number. I brought a copy of the letter from the embassy with the barcode on the top of it. 

Try to avoid handing over originals, as they will keep these documents (Passport is the exception). The guy next to me made life particularly difficult for the receptionist as he had no copies, and they were all original and he was kicking off about needing them all back. So make life easier for them and you, copy everything. I did this and kept them in a plastic wallet and handed it straight over.

 

When the receptionist is done with the paperwork, they will give you another short questionnaire which takes 2minutes to fill out and a sample cup to pee in. You can pee in the cup at anytime during your appointment, which is a good thing as there is only 1 bathroom which is high in demand. After about 5 minutes after handing in my sample cup and completed questionnaire, I was called over to do my chest x-ray. This was pretty quick and simple, shirt off, lean on the machine, done. 5 more minutes in the waiting room later, another Doctor called my name, shook my hand and took me into the office. I can't stress enough how relaxed these guys are, I can't speak for them all but the Doctor I had (Doctor Clarke) had an excellent bedside manner, and a great sense of humour and was overall a pretty funny guy. I was asked the usual basics, to confirm my DOB and my name, as well as confirm any previous surgeries (In my case, tympanoplasty). I was asked if I smoked, had ever taken drugs, if I drink - how often etc. The usual Doctor questions. He then asked me to remove everything except undergarments, and lie on my back on the bed to perform some routine tests. In my case he tested my breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, eyesight. Nothing invasive at all. A blood sample was taken, though he had trouble locating a vein to draw from. 

 

My medical went smoothly with just one or two caveats. Lack of medical history. This is just due to my local GP being generally useless in almost every way. 5 times I had visited prior to my medical to request a Patient Summary or short break down of medical history. I even set up my records online, and signed my consent to share all of my patient history on there so I could access it. No bueno. All I got was my last 3 consultations. As a result, when it came to pay I was handed a consent form and letter to my GP requesting the information. The other issue was high blood pressure, I believe this is due to me using Panadol on a headache in the morning. I had no knowledge that NSAID's will send blood pressure through the roof, oops. Whilst it's not grounds for dismissing my case, the Doctor was being a Doctor and told me I needed to go to my GP, get a repeat blood pressure done and have the results, and an action plan faxed over to him.

 

After being walked back to the waiting room, the time came where I was called up to pay. The receptionist went over what the Doctor had told me , so get consent signed, get results faxed over etc. She showed me all the paperwork, handed it to me and took payment. £330 was my total I paid, with no vaccinations needed at all. Job done! 

 

For those of you stressing prior to your appointment like I was, you can relax. It's really not that bad at all, and I'm not exactly in great shape. I have my interview in 2 weeks tomorrow, but in the interim I'm scheduling an appointment with my GP to get the rest of my medical signed off. I am unsure if Knightsbridge have 'held' my medical from the embassy until I fax further information, however I want it sorted ASAP so I can fly out on my preferred date on the 28th of September.

 

Below I have included what forms I was handed post medical, with personal information blanked out. 

 

Total bill, along with a printout of FAQ's

 

 

US Department of State form 3025. You will require this when you apply for Adjustment of Status. *DO NOT LOST THIS*

 

 

Letter to my GP requesting a re-take of my blood pressure, attached underneath

is a letter with consent form with a request for further medical history for my 

GP to fax to Knightsbridge.

 

 

That's it for my medical experience, the whole thing took about 90minutes from start to finish and truthfully, I don't know why I was worried. I wish any prospective medical attendees the best of luck, just remember to be prepared! This whole process is about preparedness.

[LeesaMarie 206]

Thank you for sharing, great write up

 

Your medical will be held until they receive the additioan l info, after which they say allow 3 working days for it to be reviewed before being sent over to the embassy.

 

My flight is booked for the 28th too! I hope you get everything sorted ASAP  

[JunkTardis 183]

5 minutes ago, LeesaMarie said:

Thank you for sharing, great write up

 

Your medical will be held until they receive the additioan l info, after which they say allow 3 working days for it to be reviewed before being sent over to the embassy.

 

My flight is booked for the 28th too! I hope you get everything sorted ASAP  

Thank you! 

 

I had a feeling it would be held, a little annoying as all of us are anxious to make sure everything goes through without a hitch or delay but my GP appointment is booked for Friday first thing, which should be sufficient time.

 

Looks like we have the same last work day AND the same POE date! I think it was you who said Sep 21st was their last working day? You aren't flying through Chicago as well by any chance? That would just be funny 😂

[LeesaMarie 206]

59 minutes ago, JunkTardis said:

Thank you! 

 

I had a feeling it would be held, a little annoying as all of us are anxious to make sure everything goes through without a hitch or delay but my GP appointment is booked for Friday first thing, which should be sufficient time.

 

Looks like we have the same last work day AND the same POE date! I think it was you who said Sep 21st was their last working day? You aren't flying through Chicago as well by any chance? That would just be funny 😂

Haha yes, 21st LWD for me, and no 'fraid not Direct to Seattle from Gatwick  

[JFH 12,190]

10 minutes ago, LeesaMarie said:

Haha yes, 21st LWD for me, and no 'fraid not Direct to Seattle from Gatwick  

Moving to Snohomish? That's about 20 miles from us. Great part of the world to live. I moved here with Norwegian from Gatwick also. 

[LeesaMarie 206]

2 minutes ago, JFH said:

Moving to Snohomish? That's about 20 miles from us. Great part of the world to live. I moved here with Norwegian from Gatwick also. 

Yep it's beautiful, will be in Mountlake Terrace for a bit before going up that way! I can't wait  Also booked with Norwegian, £250 direct. WiFi? Food? Seat already reserved? Yes please! 

[JFH 12,190]

We have a Facebook group for Brits in Snohomish County - might see you on there. We are in the mountains between Granite Falls and Verlot. We were in Mill Creek temporarily when I first arrived until we found our little piece of paradise in the mountains. 

[LeesaMarie 206]

6 minutes ago, JFH said:

We have a Facebook group for Brits in Snohomish County - might see you on there. We are in the mountains between Granite Falls and Verlot. We were in Mill Creek temporarily when I first arrived until we found our little piece of paradise in the mountains. 

Oh Amazing! Thanks for letting me know I'll take a look!

[jakejon 1,197]

Great write up. I did bring all original documents, like ACRO etc and the staff were nice enough to give them back. Didn’t realise they would accept copies but kind of irrelevant now! 

 

They had to retake my blood pressure as she was like, ‘oh are we a little nervous’. She told me to do some yoga breaths and it brought my blood pressure right down. Good feeling getting the medical done, right?! Roll on interviews in September. I’m ready, ready, ready 🙈

[sam.e 19]

This is great... quick question if you have the answer,

My fiance got his vaccination records last year for a J-1 visa he had. Does he need to get a more recent version or will that one do?

 

Thanks!

[bf__ 501]

Hi, I appreciate this was a long time ago now and I found it very helpful!

 

I'm trying to cut corners almost and find ways to save time. I see one of the biggest waits after NOA2 is the wait for the embassy here to send the information out to the beneficiary. For the document with the LDN case number, I see you took the letter from the embassy. I don't suppose you're aware of anything else that can be taken as I'm almost at this stage!

 

Thank you!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

58 minutes ago, brandonflude1 said:

Hi, I appreciate this was a long time ago now and I found it very helpful!

 

I'm trying to cut corners almost and find ways to save time. I see one of the biggest waits after NOA2 is the wait for the embassy here to send the information out to the beneficiary. For the document with the LDN case number, I see you took the letter from the embassy. I don't suppose you're aware of anything else that can be taken as I'm almost at this stage!

 

Thank you!

The email from NVC saying your case has been sent to London works.

 

[JunkTardis 183]

1 hour ago, brandonflude1 said:

Hi, I appreciate this was a long time ago now and I found it very helpful!

 

I'm trying to cut corners almost and find ways to save time. I see one of the biggest waits after NOA2 is the wait for the embassy here to send the information out to the beneficiary. For the document with the LDN case number, I see you took the letter from the embassy. I don't suppose you're aware of anything else that can be taken as I'm almost at this stage!

 

Thank you!

 

6 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

The email from NVC saying your case has been sent to London works.

 

I'm glad to hear you found it useful! 

 

My advice would honestly be not to cut corners if you can help it. Take your time. I know the waiting times between different stages of this process are ridiculously long. The NOA2 to Medical to Interview stage is the nicer, easier stage (in my experience). @Wuozopo is right though, the email works just fine. They mainly need it to verify your identity and confirm your LDN number. I booked my medical as soon as I got this letter, and then booked the interview for 2 weeks after my medical just in case any issues cropped up (they did - my interview was accepted pending medical for a solid 2 weeks). 

 

Best of luck! 

[bf__ 501]

29 minutes ago, JunkTardis said:

 

I'm glad to hear you found it useful! 

 

My advice would honestly be not to cut corners if you can help it. Take your time. I know the waiting times between different stages of this process are ridiculously long. The NOA2 to Medical to Interview stage is the nicer, easier stage (in my experience). @Wuozopo is right though, the email works just fine. They mainly need it to verify your identity and confirm your LDN number. I booked my medical as soon as I got this letter, and then booked the interview for 2 weeks after my medical just in case any issues cropped up (they did - my interview was accepted pending medical for a solid 2 weeks). 

 

Best of luck! 

Thank you both!

[LukeU 413]

On 2/16/2019 at 10:05 PM, JunkTardis said:

 

I'm glad to hear you found it useful! 

 

My advice would honestly be not to cut corners if you can help it. Take your time. I know the waiting times between different stages of this process are ridiculously long. The NOA2 to Medical to Interview stage is the nicer, easier stage (in my experience). @Wuozopo is right though, the email works just fine. They mainly need it to verify your identity and confirm your LDN number. I booked my medical as soon as I got this letter, and then booked the interview for 2 weeks after my medical just in case any issues cropped up (they did - my interview was accepted pending medical for a solid 2 weeks). 

 

Best of luck! 

How were you aware of when your medical was received by the embassy? Was it just the status online. 

I had my medical 8th Feb and just booked my interview for Mar 11th (wasn't booked at the time of my medical) and I'm intrigued to know if everything came back all okay and if it's at the embassy yet?