Question about medical exams-

[Oscar]

I spoke to Jack already but he wasn't quite sure how long the medical exams were good for, 6 months or a year.  Anyone here know??  My girl and I have one month under our respective belts now, is it too early for her to be getting her medical exam in Kiev??

Also, there was some talk a while back (can't find it) about needing a certain vaccination (was it chicken pox??).  But they would surely know to give this at the exam right?

Does she need any kind of paper or anything from a "packet" in order to get the medical exam by an American Doc, or can she just go get it done?

Thanks in advance,
Oscar

[Travis]

... in response to Question about medical exams-, posted by Oscar on Jul 9, 2002

I don't think there is any real need to have the exam done too early. My fiancee flew to Moscow on a Friday and had her medical exam done that day. Her interview was conducted on the following Tuesday and the visa was given on Wednesday. To be honest, it was cutting it a bit close for my tastes, but it worked out ok.

[Dan]

... in response to Question about medical exams-, posted by Oscar on Jul 9, 2002

When you get your notification that your petition is approved, it is time to start picking up the pace a bit. Until then, you run the risk of having to get things done twice.

When your fiance receives the packet from the Embassy (or you can download it from the Embassy in Russian and English - or you can ask me and I'll send them to you --smile--), it will list the addresses for getting her medical exam. There are two facilities in Kyiv (maybe three now) and a couple in Warsaw - and we went to the same place as Charles' fiance - the Hospital for Oil and Refining in Kyiv.

As for your questions about vaccinations - they will require her to provide a list of all vaccines she has received and can prove from a doctor - or they will adminster the vaccines to her there - EXCEPT - they apparently still do not have available the chicken pox vaccine. It poses no problem for you in securing the K-1 visa - but it *will* be a problem when you go for her AOS interview. Once again, there is no need to go out and do anything about it - except to have her explicitly ask about it when she goes to get the medical exam. My strong suspicion is that FSU countries do not have easy access to the chicken pox vaccine and may not be able to administer it even if it appears now on the medical exam forms.

If you've studied the Doc Steen website (and I *know* you have --smile--), then you already know about cabling your petition approval to Warsaw and then e-mailing/calling to get the Embassy to open a provisional file. All that will shave a few weeks off the process - and it is just about all you can do to shorten things.

One thing to check into - if she has lived in other FSU countries, she will need to have a police report from each and every city she has resided. It might be worthwhile for her to check into the necessary contacts so that she can abbreviate this process when the time comes. I understand it can take quite some time to collect this report from some of the outlying cities/towns/villages in FSU.

I hope this helps.

- Dan

[Oscar]

... in response to Sit Tight . . ., posted by Dan on Jul 9, 2002

Thanks Dan, great info, especially about the Chicken Pox..

Yes, she already got her police report in both her maiden and married names, and it is translated and notarized and I included it in our K-1 petition (I sent in EVERYTHING with it).  She has always lived in Dnepropetrovsk so no problem there..

About "cabling"..  I have had a few people (including Rags) tell me NOT to cable.  They say it can get screwed up and hold up the entire process!  I'm not quite sure at this point, what to do about it!

Oscar

[Dan]

... in response to Re: Sit Tight . . ., posted by Oscar on Jul 9, 2002

At the NE SC, approved petitions are normally dispatched by diplomatic pouch and the process can take several weeks enroute to the Embassy. My experience with government bureaucracies is that the longer they have something in their poossession, the greater the risk they will mess something up --smile--.

Cabling, OTOH, will get the petition there in just a day or two.

At NE, it is required that you include an additional form (I-824 - contrary to what is stated on Jay's Hypermart site)) and pay a fee for this service. It is best to include this form and payment with the initial package submission - BUT - I filed it later as a direct result of my congressman's aide suggesting that I do so after he spoke with the INS in NE. At the time I filed the I-824, it was only a couple of weeks after my initial package submission. Any later, and I would have been worried that it might bolux things up. In my case, it helped. Ed's situation is slightly different in that he was working through the CA SC (IIRC). The Vermont service center automatically cables all petitions - and I am unsure about the Texas SC (Jack, do you know?).

- Dan

[Oscar]

... in response to Cabling . . ., posted by Dan on Jul 10, 2002

.

[DJD]

... in response to Question about medical exams-, posted by Oscar on Jul 9, 2002

We were recently told by our INS office (Albany, NY), that the medical exam results were good for one year.  If you get your AOS interview within that year, great, if not, your wife (and children) will need to be re-examined, including blood work. You must visit a "civil surgeon" and it appears that most insurance plans do not cover it, although it certainly is worth asking.   Our INS office did require my wife to take a test to determine if she had chicken pox sometime in the past.  Seems like she did, because the vaccination was not specified.  

So far, I have learned never to assume anything with the INS, or the process in general.  Consider visiting your local office , getting your number, and waiting in the que for the next available INS officer, and find out what they will specifically require.  There seems to be so much variation between offices that I wouldn't trust the national customer service line.  Go with whatever your local office tells you, and hope that at least there is some consistency among the staff in the office.

Dan

[Charles]

... in response to Question about medical exams-, posted by Oscar on Jul 9, 2002

Oscar, generally the medical exam that is performed before the K-1 visa is enough, i.e., you don't have to do it again when you file for AOS.  

With regard to vaccinnations, check the current form from the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw website regarding the requirements for the medical exam and vaccinnation.  She should bring her immunization records to the exam; otherwise, she will have to have every vaccinnation listed which will be quite expensive.  For those vaccinnations that require multiple doses, such as hepatitis, those can be started there and completed either prior to the K-1 visa interview in Warsaw or after her arrival in the U.S.  At AOS interview they will ask for complete records of additional vaccinnations.

[Charles]

... in response to Re: Question about medical exams-, posted by Charles on Jul 9, 2002

You also asked about the timing of the exam.  Generally, you cannot have the medical exam until a provisional file is opened at the Warsaw Embassy for the K-1 visa, so unless you are at that stage there is nothing to be gained by having it done early.  The Embassy lists the facilities that can give the exam - they are located in Warsaw and Kiev.  We used the Oil Refining INsittute place because it was cheaper and had no problems..

[Apk1]

... in response to Re: Re: Question about medical exams-, posted by Charles on Jul 9, 2002

I agree with Charles and Dan, it would be prudent to not run around with your head cut off trying to have your fiance schedule her medical exam and find out later she did not go to the place on the embassy's current list of approved medical offices.

I can sit back and chuckle about it "now", but the same thing happened to my girl. I had her expedite the police report the same week I sent in my petition, 3 weeks before her interview we find out that the Moscow embassy has changed its format; they no longer wanted a central office report but now a local office report...so she had to hustle, and then find out that it would take up to 4 weeks!
Now thais is how I found out first hand it is not wise to bribe a Russian officer...my babushka in law took some chocolate and vodka to help "expedite", she was sent away with a lecture...no they did not take the bait. It just so happened that her report arrived a week before her interview...and all ends well.