Advice on immigration medical

[SAtoUSA 2]

Hi all, another post and need some assistance or recommendations from seasoned forum members. The update and background so far on my Mom's immigration process from South Africa to the USA, we finally received all the paperwork from the Department of Home Affairs and the received NVC DQ on June 29th, appointment scheduled on July 29th at the only consulate in SA that does immigrant visa (Johannesburg) for September 7th. For reference the Johannesburg consulate is a 11 hour drive from my Mom's city and she is 72 years old. Once receiving the notice of the interview appointment we went ahead and booked a flight and hotel for my Mom in Johannesburg to attend the appointment on September 7th. We also then scheduled her medical appointment which we managed to get an appointment for on August 25th, there are only 2 Doctors in SA that do the immigration medical so appointments are hard to get and again my Mom has to drive 9 hours to get to Cape Town for the medical appointment. I provide this background for information as geographically there are challenges with doing anything rapid and or last minute so keep that in mind for your responses.

 

Ok so day of the medical appointment which was scheduled for 10:30am, they complete the physical and family history and then tell my Mom she needs to go for an X-ray across town, after the X-ray she returned to the Doctor at which time the Doctor mentioned that the X-ray shows an old lung scare and she needs to provide a sputum sample for the next 3 days in a row. My Mom is old and gets tired very easily and she didn't have any food since 10:30am so when she finally left the Doctor at 4:30pm and I spoke with her she was not registering what was really going on. When my Mom left the doctor did give her a sealed envelope with the stamp and signature across the seal to take with her for the interview. When I called my Mom she couldn't tell me what the Doctor said exactly or if she had asked what happens next or anything that would help me understand what we need to do next, so here are some of my questions for you all.

1) What does this mean for my Mom?

2) Do we need to cancel the appointment at the Consulate for September 7th?

3) Can we even cancel the appointment or do we need to attend regardless to find out the results?

4) What is the sputum test for and will we need to wait for the results (8 weeks) before scheduling the next interview appointment?

5) Could this mean my Mom is at risk of getting denied an immigrant visa based on her medical?

 

I have so many questions but I will limit it for now until I get more information and or response from other members, thanks in advance as always

 

 

 

 

[Verrou 1,962]

never cancel the appointment at the consulate. many stories its hard to get the next appointment when you did cancel. 

other probably can answer the question about the sputum test. 

cant u call the doctor to find out more information regarding on ur mother's issue?

Edited August 26, 2022 by Misscloud

[SAtoUSA 2]

Thanks for the quick response on the appointment for the interview I appreciate that information.

One more piece of information, I obviously live in the US, so I did try call 3 times already and also requested the Doctor call me back not sure he would actually do that and pay for the international call, however so far I have not been able to contact the Doctor only the nurse and she doesn't or wont give me any further information. I will keep trying I don't give up that easily.

 

[arken 4,197]

Don't cancel the interview, have your mom show up for the interview. If there is any pending medical left, it will be reflected on that sealed envelope and the CO or the translator will tell your mom. The visa won't be issued until the medical requirement is satisfied.

 

Sputum test is done for suspected TB cases and may take weeks to months. The nurses aren't supposed to give you any information on your mom's medical history even if you are the petitioner. With the sealed pack already given, i'd say nothing to do at this time and just wait for the interview and see what the CO says.

[Redro 4,611]

23 minutes ago, SAtoUSA said:

Hi all, another post and need some assistance or recommendations from seasoned forum members. The update and background so far on my Mom's immigration process from South Africa to the USA, we finally received all the paperwork from the Department of Home Affairs and the received NVC DQ on June 29th, appointment scheduled on July 29th at the only consulate in SA that does immigrant visa (Johannesburg) for September 7th. For reference the Johannesburg consulate is a 11 hour drive from my Mom's city and she is 72 years old. Once receiving the notice of the interview appointment we went ahead and booked a flight and hotel for my Mom in Johannesburg to attend the appointment on September 7th. We also then scheduled her medical appointment which we managed to get an appointment for on August 25th, there are only 2 Doctors in SA that do the immigration medical so appointments are hard to get and again my Mom has to drive 9 hours to get to Cape Town for the medical appointment. I provide this background for information as geographically there are challenges with doing anything rapid and or last minute so keep that in mind for your responses.

 

Ok so day of the medical appointment which was scheduled for 10:30am, they complete the physical and family history and then tell my Mom she needs to go for an X-ray across town, after the X-ray she returned to the Doctor at which time the Doctor mentioned that the X-ray shows an old lung scare and she needs to provide a sputum sample for the next 3 days in a row. My Mom is old and gets tired very easily and she didn't have any food since 10:30am so when she finally left the Doctor at 4:30pm and I spoke with her she was not registering what was really going on. When my Mom left the doctor did give her a sealed envelope with the stamp and signature across the seal to take with her for the interview. When I called my Mom she couldn't tell me what the Doctor said exactly or if she had asked what happens next or anything that would help me understand what we need to do next, so here are some of my questions for you all.

1) What does this mean for my Mom?

2) Do we need to cancel the appointment at the Consulate for September 7th?

3) Can we even cancel the appointment or do we need to attend regardless to find out the results?

4) What is the sputum test for and will we need to wait for the results (8 weeks) before scheduling the next interview appointment?

5) Could this mean my Mom is at risk of getting denied an immigrant visa based on her medical?

 

I have so many questions but I will limit it for now until I get more information and or response from other members, thanks in advance as always

 

 

 

 

If the final medical is not ready when your mom goes to interview she will be placed under AP (administrative processing) until the medical results come out.

Don't worry. Quite a few people are refused at first because the medical is not quite ready. 

If she is cleared and does not have TB (that is what they are checking for) she will receive her immigrant visa. 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,482]

1)  You mom should do the sputum test as soon as possible.  It takes a while for the results. 

2)  I would not cancel.  The embassy will give your mom a 221g that will state that they cannot make a decision or issue a visa until the supplementary medical results are received.

3)  See 2, above.   For information, yes, you can cancel the interview appointment, for any reason.  It is better to cancel ahead of time rather than be a no-show.

4)  The doctor ordered it to verify that she does not have TB.  TB is a disqualifying medical condition for the visa.

5)  If she has TB, her visa will be denied until she is treated for it and subsequent tests show she no longer has TB.

[SAtoUSA 2]

Thank you all for the feedback, I will keep you posted on the the situation and events as they unfold.

Thanks again