I had thought that the medical and interview basically took place at the same time - that is, you had the medical then went for the interview, but I find now that they're completely seperate, and it takes a couple of days for the medical results to go out for the interview

Does this mean I have to travel down to London for the medical, then travel back down again a few days later for the interview? I'm based in the north of Scotland, so it's a bit of a journey.. but if that's the way it's done, I guess, then that's the way it's done..

Sorry for all the dumb questions today btw, it's just that I just got my interview date today, and it's raised all these issues that I wasn't aware of. I'm just glad this forum exists, as it's the one place I've had any straight answers about anything this whole time!

I'm based in N.Ireland, and, yes, you have to make two trips because the
medical and interview don't happen on the same day anymore. That used
to be the setup a year or two ago, then the embassy changed their panel
physician to the Nuffield hospitals in Edinburgh, Birmingham, and London.
This changed again at the end of last year so that only the Knightsbridge
Doctors in London are the embassy-approved panel physicians.

You don't need to have your medical done before the interview, but your
visa will not be granted and sent out until the embassy can review the
medical results.

The instructions for all of this were provided with the Packet 3 forms you
received from the embassy. If you've just received your interview date,
I'm assuming it's still a month or so away, so you can still schedule the
medical and have it done long before the interview.

Good luck.

As elwintro mentioned, until early 2005 the UK process was much more efficient. Medicals were done at a surgery near the London Embassy on the morning of your interview, and then you would wait for the results and carry them yourself to the Embassy for your interview appointment. Now you do have to organise two separate appointments and waste two days and many have to spend lots of extra money to travel there and back unnecessarily. It sucks, doesn't it! Oh, and needless to say, the price went up when they changed things too.

My husband travelled to London twice-one week for the medical and then the following week for the interview. They say that you can try to get both appointments within the same day, but my husband didn't seem to be able to. He just wanted to get the medical over with so he'd be able to bring the appropriate papers to his interview instead of having any delay.

Actually the priced dropped when they changed things by £20.00!!!! LOL Medical is now done by knightsbridge drs who have 2 surgeries in London. It is still possible to do medical and interview on the same day but it would take some arranging and you wouldnt be able to get your visa immediately as they would have to wait for the medical results which take about 4 day.

Adele

That is absolutely right!!!

Wow - I'm amazed to read that the price has actually gone down a bit again. That's good news. Of course it would be even better if 'they' found a surgery that was able to process the medical in a matter of hours like the old place (pre-April '05) used to do. Being able to combine the medical and interview in one day makes so much more sense. It wasn't a huge issue for me because I lived fairly close to London, but I would still have preferred not to have had to make two trips ... Still, 'That's progress', I guess.

All the best,

Sheila

If it helps heres what I had to do. It would have cost me over £1000 to get to London twice because I need adapted transport...(don't have a car and am disabled). So I emailed the embassy and said it was extremely difficult for me finantionally and physically to get to London. When I visited my fiance (got a lift from manc to london then flew from heathrow to san francisco..thats 4 hours by road, 10+ hours in the air and another 2-4 hours on the road to stockton) I was very unwell. So I explained that and they gave me permission to have both medical and interview done on the same day. I'm still a bit skeptical on how exactly its going to work out because I look at peoples timelines and both medical and interview times seem to be around the same. Early morning. So I hope the medical people are co-operative with me about getting the medical on the same day as the interview and earlier in the morning so theres enough time.
I'd suggest emailing the embassy you're going through and asking. I don't think money alone gives you an exeption but you can do but try.

Good Luck

'Fraid so, Beeblebrox.