Visa Medicals London Review

[Cimira 2]

Thank you so much I really appreciate🙏

[Moon_child 0]

@Julia & Aaron I’m kind of in the same situation as you at the moment we’re I’m getting stuff together for my past medical history would you be able too give a brief description and of what your doctors letter was like I.e what they put as in did they include self harm in it did they include dates ect ect I’m currently freaking out over the whole process lol even though I haven’t been on any medication for 5 years and I had a brief medical check up and the nurse who did it thinks I’m completely fine now I’m still freaking out over past self harm 😩

[appleblossom 2,398]

On 8/12/2023 at 5:35 AM, Cimira said:

Hello Julia and Aaron

Thank you so much for this update, it made it easier for us who haven’t done thier Medicals. But please did you schedule your visa interview appointment or the Embassy scheduled themselves?… please looking forward to your reply

Worth noting that it will depend on your visa route, if you’re not K-1 then you’ll wait for it to be scheduled for you. 

[appleblossom 2,398]

2 hours ago, Moon_child said:

@Julia & Aaron I’m kind of in the same situation as you at the moment we’re I’m getting stuff together for my past medical history would you be able too give a brief description and of what your doctors letter was like I.e what they put as in did they include self harm in it did they include dates ect ect I’m currently freaking out over the whole process lol even though I haven’t been on any medication for 5 years and I had a brief medical check up and the nurse who did it thinks I’m completely fine now I’m still freaking out over past self harm 😩

 
My 18 year old daughter has a much more recent history of self harm, and was on Sertaline at the time of our medical. Neither were an issue at all and her visa was granted without anything further being required. We did make sure we took a letter from her doctor giving an overview of her history and including the all important wording about not being ‘a danger to herself or others’, which seemed to do the trick. 
 

Good luck. 

[Julia & Aaron 19]

9 hours ago, Moon_child said:

@Julia & Aaron I’m kind of in the same situation as you at the moment we’re I’m getting stuff together for my past medical history would you be able too give a brief description and of what your doctors letter was like I.e what they put as in did they include self harm in it did they include dates ect ect I’m currently freaking out over the whole process lol even though I haven’t been on any medication for 5 years and I had a brief medical check up and the nurse who did it thinks I’m completely fine now I’m still freaking out over past self harm 😩

Totally understandable that you're nervous but they were very relaxed about it and spoke casually about it to me (it's not police interrogation, don't worry)

 

Although, I would say don't give more information than you need to. Keep the appointment quick for yourself, they just want to know you're not hurting yourself now and that you're not going to hurt anyone else.

This is the main wording of the letter from my GP:

 

 

My GP surgery just said I should drop in a letter asking for exactly what I need. I was advised to ask for: a brief history of the issue (including how self harm occured and any attempts at your life), what treatment occured, what my mental health is like now and that it must include wording that states you are "not a harm to self or others". My GP asked me to complete a generic depression/anxiety survey to confirm my current mental health.

 

Hope that helps, if you can get a letter form your GP covering those things, you'll be absolutely fine 🙂

[wzrd 1]

I can not tell you enough how useful this is. Thank you.

 

Question about your GP's statement. Is it an original document or a scanned copy with a visible signature? 

[Julia & Aaron 19]

2 minutes ago, wzrd said:

I can not tell you enough how useful this is. Thank you.

 

Question about your GP's statement. Is it an original document or a scanned copy with a visible signature? 

No problem, I understand how important it is to have this information.

 

The letter was the original. I scanned a copy for my future records though

[beeldn12 5]

On 8/7/2023 at 8:39 AM, TheGreatHB said:

Hey It was great meeting you that day! I just wanted to post something similar about how I was going in with the worry of this being some kind of horror day when in fact everyone was wonderful, sweet and kind and full of questions both making conversation to ease the tension and for the purpose of the visa.

 

I had been worried about my mental health history being a red flag with all of the horror stories online and I didn't even have documentation but after talking about it was told it would not affect my case.

 

So yeah hoping going forward that anyone who attends sees that this experience is just fine! Although I still have the bruise from having blood taken 😂

 

My fiance is also worried about having a history of depression. No self harm or hospitalizations or anything like that. His GP is horrendous and we've been battling to get an appointment to get this letter but I'm not optimistic. How was your experience without one? Is it just a conversation about how your mental health is currently?

 

Really appreciate any insight.

[Julia & Aaron 19]

10 hours ago, beeldn12 said:

 

My fiance is also worried about having a history of depression. No self harm or hospitalizations or anything like that. His GP is horrendous and we've been battling to get an appointment to get this letter but I'm not optimistic. How was your experience without one? Is it just a conversation about how your mental health is currently?

 

Really appreciate any insight.

I know @TheGreatHBh didn't have a report, he might be able to help?

[Micam 32]

On 9/1/2023 at 7:49 PM, beeldn12 said:

 

My fiance is also worried about having a history of depression. No self harm or hospitalizations or anything like that. His GP is horrendous and we've been battling to get an appointment to get this letter but I'm not optimistic. How was your experience without one? Is it just a conversation about how your mental health is currently?

 

Really appreciate any insight.

 

I didn't need an appointment to get this letter from my GP, I just called up and explained the situation. I got charged (I think around £25) for the letter though, but it was done in a couple of days. I would try this route, it may be quicker if they can do this! 

[beeldn12 5]

1 hour ago, Micam said:

 

I didn't need an appointment to get this letter from my GP, I just called up and explained the situation. I got charged (I think around £25) for the letter though, but it was done in a couple of days. I would try this route, it may be quicker if they can do this! 

Yeah unfortunately we've been asking for this letter since June and the office has been giving us the run around ever since. We call daily and they just continue to tell us to call back. We've asked to speak to the practice manager and been refused. We've made countless appointments and the physician just never calls. We've filed a formal complaint with the NHS but doesn't help us solve anything for now. So frustrating.

[TheGreatHB 4]

On 9/3/2023 at 11:43 AM, beeldn12 said:

Yeah unfortunately we've been asking for this letter since June and the office has been giving us the run around ever since. We call daily and they just continue to tell us to call back. We've asked to speak to the practice manager and been refused. We've made countless appointments and the physician just never calls. We've filed a formal complaint with the NHS but doesn't help us solve anything for now. So frustrating.

Honestly, it depends on a case-case basis. You can risk not going with the letter like I did and I'm sure others before I have and you could be lucky. I think it depends on your individual situation. If you've had frequent recent mental health issues, you would need it vs Myself, not having issues since 10 years ago and I was fine; but I think it depends on the doctor in question too.

[beeldn12 5]

On 9/14/2023 at 12:53 PM, TheGreatHB said:

Honestly, it depends on a case-case basis. You can risk not going with the letter like I did and I'm sure others before I have and you could be lucky. I think it depends on your individual situation. If you've had frequent recent mental health issues, you would need it vs Myself, not having issues since 10 years ago and I was fine; but I think it depends on the doctor in question too.

Thanks so much for your response. I appreciate it! Despite it being mentioned several times throughout the years on his medical record we didn’t need a letter. (We did have one just in case but they said they didn’t need to see it when offered). Yeah I’m not sure what criteria they use, but at least I can provide another example for future applicants of not needing a letter. 
 

Visa issued today  

[Dragonsarereal 14]

On 8/6/2023 at 10:46 AM, Julia & Aaron said:

I thought it would be useful to post a review of my appointment at Visa Medicals in London on 4th August 2023. I found it hard to find recent ones and hopefully this'll calm someone else's nerves!

 

I waited until I had my instructions letter from the embassy before calling to book my appointment. There was a relatively short wait on the phone (better than calling my GP) and I was offered an appointment within a few days. Forgetting that I was still waiting for a letter from my GP and that it was the weekend, I had to call and reschedule for later the same week. The lady on the phone laughed when I said I got over excited.

 

I received a confirmation email with instructions like where it is, documents to bring and booking translators (if applicable)

 

I arrived at Bond St very early. Killed a couple hours in Leon, found Bentinck Street and had a wander. My appointment was at 11:10am, pressed the buzzer at 11:05am. The email suggests a one in, one out situation. That isn't the case and is probably left over from COVID era. I was worried I was going to be told off for buzzing 5 minutes early, no one even spoke on the intercom, they just let me in.

 

Visa Medicals is the first door on your right when you come in.

 

The lady on reception asked for my name and 'all the documents we asked you to bring' which threw me a bit. It's probably a good idea to have everything ready to go in one bundle, not in well organised seperate sections of a folder like I did. I think I excepted the doctor to be asking for the reports and vaccination records, not the receptionist. This is what I gave over:

 

• My passport
• 4 US sized visa photos (Snappy Snaps can do US sized photos, it was ~£35 for 8 photos)
• A copy of my ACRO police certificate
• A copy of the first page of the instructions letter form the embassy with my LND number and visa category
• Summary care record from my GP
• Vaccination records from my GP
• COVID pass from the NHS app
• Hep B vaccination proof
• Medical questionairre
• A letter from my GP outlining past mental health issues, treatments and current mental health status (because I ticked yes to self harm)
• A discharge letter form a surgery I had in 2016 (because I ticked yes to hospitalization)

 

Note, you do not get these back (except your passport) so make copies for your own records and keep the original ACRO and embassy letter for yourself.

Here's how the email words the documents required:

 

 

I was sent into the waiting room with two more yes/no questionairres to fill out. The first was very basic and asked questions related to allergies, steroids/immunosuppresants and pregnancy. Anything I ticked yes to, I put a note underneath explaining why.

 

The second was more detailed (and very confusing because yes/no swapped places). These are the questions I can remember:

• Have you had an injury or illness that required hospitalization?
• Multiple questions on different types of heart/thyroid/kidney/liver diseases
• Have you ever taken recreational drugs?
• Multiple questions about substance abuse, related conditions and criminal record due to substance abuse
• Have you ever had thoughts of harming yourself? Have you ever acted on those thoughts?
• Have you ever had thoughts of harming others? Have you ever acted on those thoughts?
• Current medications (I also listed non-prescribed hayfever tablets and multivitamins)
• Any other medical conditions that required treatment? (I put yes - vitamin D deficiency, treated via daily supplements)

 

Someone then called me through to take a chest x-ray. No need to remove my piercings (nipple included) and sent me back to the waiting room.

 

A few minutes later a doctor called Michaela called me through. She was extremely friendly and I felt at ease with her. We discussed some of the questions I had ticked yes to like why I had surgery and what methods I used for self harm in the past. She repeated some of the questions to me directly, particularly about drug use and harming others. She told me that the US is very keen to ask these questions due to the availability of guns and the risk of gun violence. I had an additional report on my mental health from my last counsellor, so she took that from me as all evidence is good evidence.

 

The rest of the exam was height, weight, vision, ears and mouth. Then I was asked to undress to underwear and socks and drape a gown over my lower half whilst on the bench. Here she took my blood pressure, took a blood sample for syphillis, listened to my heart and lungs, bent my knees around to check for pain and pressed different areas of my stomach. No urine sample was taken due to my age (27) and no past STDs.

 

I have a scoliosis in my spine, which she noticed and asked if it caused back pain (it doesn't) and that was that.

 

She sent me back into the waiting room while a nurse checked my vaccinations. I didn't need anything done as I'd had my DTaP booster at my GP recently and I'd already had Hep B vaccinations for work reasons in the past. They can do them for you but it may be cheaper to get them done elsewhere before your appointment.

 

I paid and was given proof of vaccinations to use when I adjust status. All in all, nothing to worry about but I am glad I was prepared! Good luck to anyone going for their medical

 

 

Thank you so much!  Could I ask what is exactly this 'Summary care record from my GP'? I asked the visa doctors and they won't tell me, and I asked my GP and the receptionist said they have no clue of what it is! ha ha.

 

 

 

 

 

[Julia & Aaron 19]

19 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

 

That's unusual that your GP doesn't know.

 

It was just a summary of medications, allergies and any significant medical issues (mainly therapy referrals and antibiotics for me)

 

Maybe book an appointment with your GP and see if they can find/print some kind of summary?

 

Good luck!