Scheduling medical before receiving interview letter

[cup1981 5]

Hey all. We were DQ'd in June 2024, and my wife wants to get her medical early because we know some scarring in her lungs will lead to more testing. She wants to schedule it for January, but I read you cannot schedule it without the appointment letter. Can we schedule it before receiving our appointment letter from the NVC, or do we have to wait? Thanks! 

[Edward and Jaycel 172]

We scheduled ours without the appointment letter. When she checks in, they will just have your wife sign a waiver saying that she understands that the medical exam is only good for 6 months and if it expires before she is issued or can use the visa, that SLEC is not responsible, etc. Unless something has changed since August. 

[cup1981 5]

15 minutes ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

We scheduled ours without the appointment letter. When she checks in, they will just have your wife sign a waiver saying that she understands that the medical exam is only good for 6 months and if it expires before she is issued or can use the visa, that SLEC is not responsible, etc. Unless something has changed since August. 

 

Awesome, thanks so much, I kept reading so much conflicting info. Thanks for clearing it up with actual experience

[cup1981 5]

1 hour ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

We scheduled ours without the appointment letter. When she checks in, they will just have your wife sign a waiver saying that she understands that the medical exam is only good for 6 months and if it expires before she is issued or can use the visa, that SLEC is not responsible, etc. Unless something has changed since August. 

 

Oh, and from what I just read, any visa medical exams completed after Nov 1, 2023, no longer have an expiration date. They are indefinite https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-announces-new-guidance-on-form-i-693-validity-period 

[Edward and Jaycel 172]

7 minutes ago, cup1981 said:

 

Oh, and from what I just read, any visa medical exams completed after Nov 1, 2023, no longer have an expiration date. They are indefinite https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-announces-new-guidance-on-form-i-693-validity-period 

 

That's for the I-693 medicals done by a civil surgeon inside the US not for overseas medicals. The overseas medical exam still has a validity of 6 months and that is what your visa validity date is based on as far as I know. I could be wrong.

[cup1981 5]

7 minutes ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

That's for the I-693 medicals done by a civil surgeon inside the US not for overseas medicals. The overseas medical exam still has a validity of 6 months and that is what your visa validity date is based on as far as I know. I could be wrong.

 

Ah, OK, thanks!

[top_secret 2,421]

On 10/21/2024 at 9:17 AM, cup1981 said:

Hey all. We were DQ'd in June 2024, and my wife wants to get her medical early because we know some scarring in her lungs will lead to more testing. She wants to schedule it for January, but I read you cannot schedule it without the appointment letter. Can we schedule it before receiving our appointment letter from the NVC, or do we have to wait? Thanks! 

 

Currently they are scheduling interviews for persons DQ in February of 2024 and those interview dates are 2 months out. So the backlog is currently 9-10 months.  Hopefully they are making progress on the backlog but It may still be a bit early to get a medical done for someone with a June 2024 DQ date.  If you know she has scarring in her lungs and is highly likely to get tagged for sputum testing then it does make sense to get the medical completed early.  But keep in mind that a the medical for someone tagged for sputum testing is only good for 3 months from the results date of the test.  They don't get 6 months.  So the timeframe would be something like 3 months for the sputum testing followed by 3 months validity of the medical.  It's still 6 months but the window of usability is only 3.  So that makes guessing when to do it in advance a little more difficult.