Interview in Bogota and Medical

[koblitzcam 5]

Some advice would be greatly appreciated about this because I can't find anywhere a similar question.

 

We got our K1 approved. We're waiting for our packet of instructions for her interview, but we did some digging and found the instructions already online. It says that we need to do the medical exam before the interview, and need to do blood screen and chest x-ray before the medical. It also says the only place to get all of this done is in Bogota. I'm curious how little time can be between the blood draw/x-ray appointment and the medical exam. Also how little time can be between the medical exam and interview. The reason why I'm asking this is to possibly avoid the cost and nuisance of 1, 2, or 3 out of potentially 4 round trip flights that my fiancé will have to do. Also I don't know if the fingerprint appointment or any other appointments that I'm not mentioning HAS to be in Bogota, and if again this would have to be a separate day from the interview and how little time can be in between everything. I thought the initial application process and request for more evidence was complicated enough, but this is pretty confusing and the instructions aren't very intuitive.

 

For example if it can all be done 1 day apart: blood test/xray day 1, medical day 2, interview day 3 that would only be 1 flight and 2 nights in Bogota. Saving a lot of time and money.

 

I'm guessing more realistically it could be: 1 trip for blood test/xray, then flying back and waiting for the results. Followed by a 2nd trip day 1 medical exam, day 2 interview.

 

The third option would be really dumb if all 3 need to be far enough apart that it doesn't make sense to stay in Bogota and pay for hotel/airbnb between appointments.

[SalishSea 17,827]

9 minutes ago, koblitzcam said:

Some advice would be greatly appreciated about this because I can't find anywhere a similar question.

 

We got our K1 approved. We're waiting for our packet of instructions for her interview, but we did some digging and found the instructions already online. It says that we need to do the medical exam before the interview, and need to do blood screen and chest x-ray before the medical. It also says the only place to get all of this done is in Bogota. I'm curious how little time can be between the blood draw/x-ray appointment and the medical exam. Also how little time can be between the medical exam and interview. The reason why I'm asking this is to possibly avoid the cost and nuisance of 1, 2, or 3 out of potentially 4 round trip flights that my fiancé will have to do. Also I don't know if the fingerprint appointment or any other appointments that I'm not mentioning HAS to be in Bogota, and if again this would have to be a separate day from the interview and how little time can be in between everything. I thought the initial application process and request for more evidence was complicated enough, but this is pretty confusing and the instructions aren't very intuitive.

 

For example if it can all be done 1 day apart: blood test/xray day 1, medical day 2, interview day 3 that would only be 1 flight and 2 nights in Bogota. Saving a lot of time and money.

 

I'm guessing more realistically it could be: 1 trip for blood test/xray, then flying back and waiting for the results. Followed by a 2nd trip day 1 medical exam, day 2 interview.

 

The third option would be really dumb if all 3 need to be far enough apart that it doesn't make sense to stay in Bogota and pay for hotel/airbnb between appointments.

You should be getting packet 3 for your consulate, which will contain explicit instructions.  Biometrics and medical exams must be done exactly as (and where) instructed by the consulate, or the results will not be accepted, unfortunately.

[TBoneTX 45,284]

Very country-specific thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Mexico/Latin/South America regional forum.

[Bri&Alejandro 82]

Hello! 
 

My fiancé and I have our interview next week in Bogota. The embassy provided us a document with the medical exam instructions a couple of weeks ago. 
 

The embassy requires that the medical exam and lab (X-ray and blood work) be done at specific locations in Bogota. My fiancé had the labs and medical exam within 24 hours of each other this week. The medical exam is valid for 6 months but can be done about a week before the interview. 
 

The embassy will schedule the biometrics appointment and that is also done in a specific office in Bogota. Ours was scheduled for the day prior to our interview but I have seen others scheduled a few days prior, so maybe it just depends on availability. 
 

Your fiancé should be able to do it all in one trip  good luck!

[James & Helga 15]

5 hours ago, Bri&Alejandro said:

Hello! 
 

My fiancé and I have our interview next week in Bogota. The embassy provided us a document with the medical exam instructions a couple of weeks ago. 
 

The embassy requires that the medical exam and lab (X-ray and blood work) be done at specific locations in Bogota. My fiancé had the labs and medical exam within 24 hours of each other this week. The medical exam is valid for 6 months but can be done about a week before the interview. 
 

The embassy will schedule the biometrics appointment and that is also done in a specific office in Bogota. Ours was scheduled for the day prior to our interview but I have seen others scheduled a few days prior, so maybe it just depends on availability. 
 

Your fiancé should be able to do it all in one trip  good luck!

Great update Bri.  Thanks!  I wondering about the biometrics appointment and you answered that.  I wasn’t sure if we had to schedule it or the embassy scheduled it.  And from what I read the biometric appointment consists of fingerprinting and taking a digital photo.   
 

I’m in the process reviewing hotels near the embassy.  Have you guys selected a hotel near the embassy yet?   There seem to be a lot of hotels in the vicinity of the embassy.  Any recommendations?

[koblitzcam 5]

6 hours ago, Bri&Alejandro said:

Hello! 
 

My fiancé and I have our interview next week in Bogota. The embassy provided us a document with the medical exam instructions a couple of weeks ago. 
 

The embassy requires that the medical exam and lab (X-ray and blood work) be done at specific locations in Bogota. My fiancé had the labs and medical exam within 24 hours of each other this week. The medical exam is valid for 6 months but can be done about a week before the interview. 
 

The embassy will schedule the biometrics appointment and that is also done in a specific office in Bogota. Ours was scheduled for the day prior to our interview but I have seen others scheduled a few days prior, so maybe it just depends on availability. 
 

Your fiancé should be able to do it all in one trip  good luck!

Thanks, this was just the details specifically about Bogota I was hoping for. This is looking like 1 or 2 flights instead of what I was concerned about!

[Bri&Alejandro 82]

2 hours ago, James & Helga said:

Great update Bri.  Thanks!  I wondering about the biometrics appointment and you answered that.  I wasn’t sure if we had to schedule it or the embassy scheduled it.  And from what I read the biometric appointment consists of fingerprinting and taking a digital photo.   
 

I’m in the process reviewing hotels near the embassy.  Have you guys selected a hotel near the embassy yet?   There seem to be a lot of hotels in the vicinity of the embassy.  Any recommendations?

Yep, you are exactly right, it is just fingerprints and a photo. 
 

Unfortunately I do not have any recommendations for a hotel, we are staying in an Airbnb for the week ☺️

[James & Helga 15]

1 hour ago, Bri&Alejandro said:

Yep, you are exactly right, it is just fingerprints and a photo. 
 

Unfortunately I do not have any recommendations for a hotel, we are staying in an Airbnb for the week ☺️

Thanks Bri....Helga will be arriving before me.  Her physical is earlier in the week of April 19th.  We will be staying with her family members who live there.  We plan to check into a hotel near the embassy  the night before her interview which is on April 26th.  Also, her friends recommend that we check out the Stella Artois restaurant for dinner and beers.  I don’t know if the food is any good but we are planning to take it in while we are there.  You may want to check it out while you guys are in Bogota next week.  Best of luck with everything next week.  And congratulations!

[Removed20210801 22]

8 hours ago, James & Helga said:

Great update Bri.  Thanks!  I wondering about the biometrics appointment and you answered that.  I wasn’t sure if we had to schedule it or the embassy scheduled it.  And from what I read the biometric appointment consists of fingerprinting and taking a digital photo.   
 

I’m in the process reviewing hotels near the embassy.  Have you guys selected a hotel near the embassy yet?   There seem to be a lot of hotels in the vicinity of the embassy.  Any recommendations?

For hotels by the embassy (and just in general in bogota) you can't beat Salvio 93 or the Click Clack. I would highly recommend both if you can swing it otherwise a bunch of good AirBNBs exist very close by as well.

[Bri&Alejandro 82]

On 3/31/2021 at 11:43 AM, James & Helga said:

Thanks Bri....Helga will be arriving before me.  Her physical is earlier in the week of April 19th.  We will be staying with her family members who live there.  We plan to check into a hotel near the embassy  the night before her interview which is on April 26th.  Also, her friends recommend that we check out the Stella Artois restaurant for dinner and beers.  I don’t know if the food is any good but we are planning to take it in while we are there.  You may want to check it out while you guys are in Bogota next week.  Best of luck with everything next week.  And congratulations!

Thank you! Stella Artois restaurant..that sounds fun! Since I am only there for one week, we already have it pretty packed with stuff to do. I did find a waffle and crepe restaurant that I told him we need to go to 😂 I’m leaving Saturday, I can’t wait!

[James & Helga 15]

On 4/1/2021 at 7:26 PM, Bri&Alejandro said:

Thank you! Stella Artois restaurant..that sounds fun! Since I am only there for one week, we already have it pretty packed with stuff to do. I did find a waffle and crepe restaurant that I told him we need to go to 😂 I’m leaving Saturday, I can’t wait!

Have fun Bri...!  Congrats again!

[James & Helga 15]

On 3/31/2021 at 4:41 PM, bogotaCO said:

For hotels by the embassy (and just in general in bogota) you can't beat Salvio 93 or the Click Clack. I would highly recommend both if you can swing it otherwise a bunch of good AirBNBs exist very close by as well.

Awesome...Thanks so much!  I will recommend that to my wife.

[omairaycorey 0]

Congrats everyone on their interviews. Ours is in 2 weeks. Our lab work was scheduled a day after the exam. But there isn’t much you can do about that. Does anyone have a specific order for the documents they wanted to review. Besides the email the embassy sends? 

[HBundle 44]

To follow up what Bri said, we also had our interview and have just recently received our visa.

 

You will have to do the medical exam first-- there are now only 2 approved doctors (plus 1 additional one that only attends minors).  If you are going off the old P3 packet, make sure you call one of the currently approved doctors.  I know Dr. Dennis is still approved because he is who we picked.  His office is kind of far away from the embassy-- took between 30 min to 1 hour with the awful Bogota traffic, so if you are considering multiple trips, you might book a hotel near his office.  For this appointment, you need to print or write on a piece of paper the name of you and your fiancee, the case number, type of visa, passport number, and maybe a few other things (the doctor's office will instruct you). You also need to bring the visa pictures.  I believe 4 if I remember correctly.  May also need to bring other documents but honestly can't remember.

 

After that appointment, the Doctor's office will schedule a time for the labs, generally the next day early in the morning.  This appointment is at another location and all the appointments are very early, like 7:00 AM.  While there are technically appointments, it was really first come first serve as there was a long line. For this you also need to bring 2 visa pictures (if I remember correctly), and copy of passport. Possibly other documents-- I can't remember.

 

After the lab, you will have to pick up the results at the original doctor's office, likely the next day at the end of the day.  They will give you an envelope that you have to bring to the airport, as well as a document for the green card interview.

 

I would probably just wait until you receive information from the Embassy just in case anything changes.  I'm not sure how the doctor's offices would react to you scheduling it yourself.

 

Also note that Bogota is under strict quarantine and pico y cedula right now.  Meaning, many restaurants are closed or only domicilio, especially on weekends when everything is closed.  We didn't have an issue with pico y cedula for the doctor's appointments, but the ASC for the biometrics appointment observes the pico y cedula rules so you can't enter if its not your day, even if you have an appointment. If they cancel your biometrics appointment or you can't attend due to pico y cedula, don't worry because they can do it at the Embassy, which is what we had to do.