Has anyone else had delays with Visa Medicals sending on their medical results?

[RadChan 84]

So, I sent a follow up to visa medicals today, as tomorrow marks 14 days since my medical and my interview is next Tuesday (17th). I wanted to make sure that they had sent everything off, and since they say 2 weeks before the interview is plenty for the medical, I was sure they had sent it off already, as I sent them my summary of care over a week ago already. Well, I got the following message from them: 

 

"Thanks for your email apologies due to Covid we have been working on a reduced capacity and your Doctor will be in tomorrow to check and submit"

 

Confused as to why a medical institution would need to run on a reduced capacity due to covid unless their staff is literally sick? (And certainly wasn't social distancing as their admin room was FULL of secretaries and receptionists when I went!) 

 

I'm slightly concerned that they won't get it sent away in time, and considering it is obscenely expensive to get the medical check and vaccinations, I will be seriously upset if they mess this up. 

 

Has anyone else had problems?

[Wuozopo 4,293]

You got out of the flow by not having all you needed on the day. Your email was a good reminder to them to get back to your report. I believe in most cases they send it digitally now, rather than by paper forms, so it could go out tomorrow.

 

Even if your medical is not at the interview, it doesn’t stop you from having the interview and being approved pending medical. When the embassy gets the report, they will continue the final steps to issuing the visa. Again, you will be out of the flow a bit and somebody has to get around to going back to your case.

[RadChan 84]

2 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

You got out of the flow by not having all you needed on the day. Your email was a good reminder to them to get back to your report. I believe in most cases they send it digitally now, rather than by paper forms, so it could go out tomorrow.

 

Even if your medical is not at the interview, it doesn’t stop you from having the interview and being approved pending medical. When the embassy gets the report, they will continue the final steps to issuing the visa. Again, you will be out of the flow a bit and somebody has to get around to going back to your case.

Thanks! I wondered if that might be the case, hence my plan was to email them today and give them enough time to sort it if I had slipped through the net. I am crossing my fingers that the doc looks at it and sends it over tomorrow or Monday at the latest because I am hopeful to get on a plane ASAP!

 

I had an almighty battle with my GP surgery to get my summary of care - they told me it could take up to 30 days (!) and in the end it was 3 weeks, even though I heard that this info should be online and easy to access - typical Norfolk, probably still doing things on paper! 

 

I shall call the medical people again tomorrow to double check. If it is sent by email then that is much less of a worry. I was about to say that they could probably just walk the medical results around the corner to the embassy, but apparently I am stuck in 2016 because Google maps tells me it is now in Vauxhall and not Mayfair. Good thing I looked that up before my interview!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Yes, the new embassy opened a couple of years ago. Before the move, the clinic had a courier service that took the reports over same day delivery. After the move, there was a period where everybody who went to interview found that their medical wasn’t there. Speculation was maybe they started sending them Royal Mail. Anyway, most recently people have been told medical reports go digitally now. It may coincide with the State department’s move away from the paper files. That has only been true for spouse visas processed at NVC. K1s (before their pause) still got the big white envelope with all their files plus the medical report sealed and marked DO NOT OPEN to turn in at POE. The IR1/CR1 DCF applicants who skipped NVC also have paper files, as do expedites who did not finish the NVC process before getting sent to the embassy.