Can we attend interview before medical.!

[Gujjupat 0]

Hello all

We received visa interview for end of February but can’t get any medical appointment before.! So could we appear for interview and then medical or not.?

 

please advice.! 

[Cynolly 10]

19 minutes ago, Gujjupat said:

Hello all

We received visa interview for end of February but can’t get any medical appointment before.! So could we appear for interview and then medical or not.?

 

please advice.! 

What visa category and when were you DQ? 
 

I would suggest you keep calling medicals. People from this month were able to get appointments from cancellations. 

[Gujjupat 0]

23 minutes ago, Cynolly said:

What visa category and when were you DQ? 
 

I would suggest you keep calling medicals. People from this month were able to get appointments from cancellations. 

Thanks

otherwise do I have to reschedule visa interview.?please reply.!

Edited January 28, 2022 by Gujjupat

[Dashinka 24,519]

You must complete the medical as well as any vaccinations prior to the interview according to the Department of State.  The results do not have to necessarily be completed and at the consulate yet, but the exam must be completed.  If the results are not ready at the time of the interview, they will not make a final decision until they get them.

 

Good Luck!

 

1. Schedule and Complete a Medical Examination

You (and each family member or “derivative applicant” applying for a visa with you) are required to schedule a medical appointment with an authorized physician in the country where you will be interviewed. This exam must be with an embassy-approved doctor, also referred to as the Panel Physician. Exams conducted by other physicians will not be accepted. You must complete your medical examination, along with any required vaccinations, before your scheduled visa interview date. Please visit our List of U.S. Embassies and Consulates for country-specific medical examination instructions.

 

After your exam, the Panel Physician will either send the exam results directly to the embassy or give you a sealed envelope. If the doctor gives you an envelope, do not open it. Instead, bring it to your visa interview and give it to the consular officer.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview.html

[nanobot 27]

19 hours ago, Dashinka said:

You must complete the medical as well as any vaccinations prior to the interview according to the Department of State.  The results do not have to necessarily be completed and at the consulate yet, but the exam must be completed.  If the results are not ready at the time of the interview, they will not make a final decision until they get them.

I agree.  when you go to the document check window at the interview, they can see if they’ve received your medical or not.  They ask you if you have completed it.  If you have not then the interview stage ends there and you need to rebook.  If you have had the medical but the results are not yet in, but all else is well, then they’ll hold your passport until the results come in then process it.

[Gujjupat 0]

17 minutes ago, nanobot said:

I agree.  when you go to the document check window at the interview, they can see if they’ve received your medical or not.  They ask you if you have completed it.  If you have not then the interview stage ends there and you need to rebook.  If you have had the medical but the results are not yet in, but all else is well, then they’ll hold your passport until the results come in then process it.

Hi

so Is that means you saying we can’t attend interview before medical right.?

[nanobot 27]

7 minutes ago, Gujjupat said:

so Is that means you saying we can’t attend interview before medical right.?

You can attend, but it is my understanding that you will not get far and will need to reschedule.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

I wish somebody who lives in London would test this out. Somebody who didn’t have to travel a long way to get there. I’ve never known of anybody reporting being turned away.. Now with Visa Medicals the new bottleneck, the question is the big topic around here. And I wish the embassy would check on why Visa Medicals is suddenly having a problem. They are contracted by the embassy to perform a service. Right now they are the spanner in the works. If they are understaffed, perhaps they need to hire. Perhaps the embassy needs to contract a second location. I know this is getting frustrating to visa hopefuls.

[Gujjupat 0]

3 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

I wish somebody who lives in London would test this out. Somebody who didn’t have to travel a long way to get there. I’ve never known of anybody reporting being turned away.. Now with Visa Medicals the new bottleneck, the question is the big topic around here. And I wish the embassy would check on why Visa Medicals is suddenly having a problem. They are contracted by the embassy to perform a service. Right now they are the spanner in the works. If they are understaffed, perhaps they need to hire. Perhaps the embassy needs to contract a second location. I know this is getting frustrating to visa hopefuls.

Yeah.! We are so confused about what to do .? As few people suggested to go ahead and attend interview first and then medical but not sure what to do if they keep original passport at embassy they wouldn’t perform medical after without passport.!

 

so confused.!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

10 minutes ago, Gujjupat said:

Yeah.! We are so confused about what to do .? As few people suggested to go ahead and attend interview first and then medical but not sure what to do if they keep original passport at embassy they wouldn’t perform medical after without passport.!

 

so confused.!

You can ask for your passport after the interview. Some people do that because they need it for a trip. When you are finished with whatever you need your passport for, you arrange for the “courier in” service to pick up your passport and deliver it to the embassy. 
 

You can also call Visa Medicals and ask what else they might accept. I have know people to use a driver license with picture as their photo ID at the clinic when they had unusual circumstances.

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by Wuozopo

[whiterabbitt 37]

57 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

I wish somebody who lives in London would test this out. Somebody who didn’t have to travel a long way to get there. I’ve never known of anybody reporting being turned away.. Now with Visa Medicals the new bottleneck, the question is the big topic around here. And I wish the embassy would check on why Visa Medicals is suddenly having a problem. They are contracted by the embassy to perform a service. Right now they are the spanner in the works. If they are understaffed, perhaps they need to hire. Perhaps the embassy needs to contract a second location. I know this is getting frustrating to visa hopefuls.

 

The thing that has changed since towards the end of last year 2021 is that the Embassy have been scheduling interviews about 2 weeks before the actual interview. Usually they would schedule an interview around 4 weeks giving enough time to book a Medical exam.

 

Yes for sure Visa Medicals is probably under staffed / possibly working through maybe limited number of people per day due to covid safety. When I went for my medical exam a few weeks ago the doctor there told me she was going in Saturdays to catch up with the backlog. No they don't open on weekends and she was working overtime out of her own will. She also managed to get my medical results to the Embassy in less than 7 days. I was really impressed.

 

The embassy seem to be working very efficiently, however Visa Medicals I think are struggling with the capacity. The two don't seem to correlate with each other in terms of appointment booking at all. They are probably just working individually trying to get through the backlog of people. 

 

To anyone who is trying to book a medical before their interview - your best bet is to call everyday for cancellations. 

Edited January 29, 2022 by whiterabbitt

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, whiterabbitt said:

She also managed to get my medical results to the Embassy in less than 7 days. I was really impressed.

But for 13 years they got the Medicals to the embassy in 3-4 days, even when they went physically by courier. The exception was for about two months after the new embassy opened when nobody’s medical results seemed to be available when they went to interview. That could have been just an embassy glitch handling received reports. 
 

1 hour ago, whiterabbitt said:

The embassy seem to be working very efficiently, however Visa Medicals I think are struggling with the capacity.

For a decade,  before Covid, when the embassy was processing over 100 visas a day, one could always get a medical appointment the same week or the next. I am just curious what changed this month. Perhaps Covid has taken a toll on their staffing. But if the capacity has increased that much recently, they need to look at expanding their practice or opening a second location like the one they previously had on Basil St. 

 

1 hour ago, whiterabbitt said:

To anyone who is trying to book a medical before their interview - your best bet is to call everyday for cancellations

Yes. Great suggestion.

[Saqib-s 188]

I would add, if you've been DQ'd and are awaiting an interview date in London, go ahead and call Visa Medical and book your medical asap, don't wait for the interview invite.  

[ohiohopeful 53]

On 1/29/2022 at 10:20 PM, Saqib-s said:

I would add, if you've been DQ'd and are awaiting an interview date in London, go ahead and call Visa Medical and book your medical asap, don't wait for the interview invite.  

All instructions on the embassy page state not to do this until you've received your letter and interview date - Assuming the medical centre didn't ask for any confirmation or information about your interview if you booked before it had been confirmed?

 

I'm just weighing up whether to book it now or wait for the letter - I was hoping to schedule them 1 day after the other to avoid 2 trips to London - probably unlikely!

[Saqib-s 188]

7 minutes ago, ohiohopeful said:

All instructions on the embassy page state not to do this until you've received your letter and interview date - Assuming the medical centre didn't ask for any confirmation or information about your interview if you booked before it had been confirmed?

 

I'm just weighing up whether to book it now or wait for the letter - I was hoping to schedule them 1 day after the other to avoid 2 trips to London - probably unlikely!

The Visa medial guys do not ask for your interview letter when booking only when you attend the medical. 

Would recommend grabbing a medical slot asap, most people are finding it hard to get a slot after they get an interview slot and have that date be 10 days before their interview. 

 

Would not be a good idea to do them one day after the other, the embassy are telling people not to attend their interview if their medical was not done 10 days before; in reality this just need to be before the interview, and your results will be pending when you interview. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Saqib-s