EXPENSIVE medical exam

[Erin and Muraari 0]

Hi All

So I tried to get a medical exam done in or around Seattle, and virtually all places I called kept tellling me they had no appointments until July (and in some cases as far off as October). The one place I found was in Tacoma/Spanaway which was about 75 miles away but was willing to see AOS medical patients. So I get there and show them a copy of my old vaccination records (which were good enough for a lot of things including when I moved to Canada about 10 years ago with my parents) and they refused to take it becasue it didn't have my full name on it. It had my first name, my date of birth, and a list of all the immunizations I had. So somewhat understandable I suppose.

Anyway they charged me 600 dollars for the vaccinations on top of the medical exam. Seems a little outrageous does it not? I suppose I could have looked around to see if I could get them elsewhere for cheaper but I simply didnt have time due to travel plans. And all fo this for shots I have had before.

Also the other thing that really annoyed me was that I called them on Wednesday night before going in on Thursday morning and asked them whether everything will be done by Saturday if all things go well and they said yes. But when I went in on Thursday they told me i have to come back on Saturday to get my TB test read (which is fine), but now they tell me I also have to come back on Sunday becasue their civil surgeons are not around on Saturdays. Why the heck could'nt they tell me this before?

Anyway just needed somewhere to vent........

Muraari

[Cécy 44]

O.o

that's absolute abuse. >.>

I can't beleive they charged you that much. But I guess it needs to be done anyway...

They are really looking for the money if they don't accept your vaccination document just because it's not the full name >.< they should know that names are not written down the same way in other countries.

I wish I could have told you that some things seem to be feasable at the local Health Department for a cheaper fee... and then brough to the civil surgeon.

Good luck with what comes next.

By the way, if you're like me and had a BCG vaccin as a kid and your skin TB test shows positive, go to the local health department for the reading. They told me that since I've been in the US for less than 2 years my chest X-ray should be free (finally good news out of all the #######).

[Erin and Muraari 0]

So I went in on Saturday and my bump read to be 9 mm on the TB test, which I thought meant that I was clear. But this medical center insists that USCIS regards anything more than 5 mm as positive and now wants to charge me 70 dollars for an Xray. Oh well, owing to the very short timeframe, and the fact that every other place in Seattle is booked up, I will have to go with it. I just hope they dont find anything on the chest X ray just so they can charge me more. But I am pretty sure becasue I had the BCG vaccine too, so I am hoping things will be OK.

Also when I was there yesterday it was such a zoo there that it took them 3 hours just to read my skin test ad told me it would be another 9-10 hours before a surgeon can see me. So I am just going ot go back first thing on Monday morning when I am hoping things are more quiet. Thats a 75 mile drive each way for a total of 420 miles all for medical stuff....... Blech.

Thanks for the reply by the way, hope your AOS goes well.

O.o

that's absolute abuse. >.>

I can't beleive they charged you that much. But I guess it needs to be done anyway...

They are really looking for the money if they don't accept your vaccination document just because it's not the full name >.< they should know that names are not written down the same way in other countries.

I wish I could have told you that some things seem to be feasable at the local Health Department for a cheaper fee... and then brough to the civil surgeon.

Good luck with what comes next.

By the way, if you're like me and had a BCG vaccin as a kid and your skin TB test shows positive, go to the local health department for the reading. They told me that since I've been in the US for less than 2 years my chest X-ray should be free (finally good news out of all the #######).

[Cécy 44]

Couldn't you get the reading done at the County's Heald Department? That's what I did. The doctor and nurse told me I could do that and fax them the results, and when I went to the health department to have it read and it was 13mm >.> (BCG too)

they scheduled an X-ray for monday morning and told me I wouldn't be charged.

Of course not it's the week-end so it's hard to join anyone... but maybe you should try to give some calls.

It was a 80 miles trip for me to go to the appointment too, it was cheaper and the appointment was earlier than what I could get in Asheville...

Good luck anyway... I guess we'll be able to compare our results.

[KenKing 0]

Are you getting the medical exam before marriage? Is there a problem with that at the local county health department? Would they not take an "illegal" immigrant? Just curious, since I'm about to go the same route.

[TracyTN 237]

Hi All

So I tried to get a medical exam done in or around Seattle, and virtually all places I called kept tellling me they had no appointments until July (and in some cases as far off as October). The one place I found was in Tacoma/Spanaway which was about 75 miles away but was willing to see AOS medical patients. So I get there and show them a copy of my old vaccination records (which were good enough for a lot of things including when I moved to Canada about 10 years ago with my parents) and they refused to take it becasue it didn't have my full name on it. It had my first name, my date of birth, and a list of all the immunizations I had. So somewhat understandable I suppose.

Anyway they charged me 600 dollars for the vaccinations on top of the medical exam. Seems a little outrageous does it not? I suppose I could have looked around to see if I could get them elsewhere for cheaper but I simply didnt have time due to travel plans. And all fo this for shots I have had before.

Also the other thing that really annoyed me was that I called them on Wednesday night before going in on Thursday morning and asked them whether everything will be done by Saturday if all things go well and they said yes. But when I went in on Thursday they told me i have to come back on Saturday to get my TB test read (which is fine), but now they tell me I also have to come back on Sunday becasue their civil surgeons are not around on Saturdays. Why the heck could'nt they tell me this before?

Anyway just needed somewhere to vent........

Muraari

What visa type are you adjusting from?

[KenKing 0]

Seeing that the OP had indicated Canada, I would assume the OP is adjusting from VWP or another non-immigrant visa. Which is why the OP needed the full medical exam. My girlfriend, also will be adjusting from tourist visa.

[TracyTN 237]

True, but I didn't want to make assumptions -particularly when plenty of Canadians are here on K1s - if she were, she may not need another medical exam.

Edited June 28, 2007 by TracyTN

[featherB 1]

Seeing that the OP had indicated Canada, I would assume the OP is adjusting from VWP or another non-immigrant visa. Which is why the OP needed the full medical exam. My girlfriend, also will be adjusting from tourist visa.

Not the VWP, because Canada isn't a VWP country - but I know what you mean...

Anyway - this is too late for the OP, but couldn't anyone in a similar situation (ie who know they've had all or most of the vaccinations but can't prove it to the satisfaction of a CS) get a titre test done to see which, if any, vaccinations are required? I don't know much about titre tests, and *do* know they're supposedly pretty expensive, but... maybe not so expensive as going and getting the whole lot done again unnecessarily...?

[Erin and Muraari 0]

I am not an "illegal" immigrant as you put it. I am on a perfectly valid work visa here. And even if not, as a Canadian its not really that hard to enter and leave the United States. And there are only some doctors approved in Washington state, and they are all really really backlogged, some of them are looking at appointments as late as October right now.

Are you getting the medical exam before marriage? Is there a problem with that at the local county health department? Would they not take an "illegal" immigrant? Just curious, since I'm about to go the same route.

[Cécy 44]

I came here as a visitor and I never had a problem for anything. I explained that I was doing it for the immigration because I'm getting married to my boyfriend. They usually just say congratulations