For those that are planning ahead for the medical I thought I would give a heads up. One of the Embassy select Physicians does same day results. The International Organization for Immigration (IOM) at #12 2nd Zvenigorodskaya, 1st Entrance; Moscow, metro: " Ulitsa 1905 goda". tel (495) 797-8723. If you want same day results your appointment must be before noon. The fee is 85 bucks. Vaccination shots are a flat fee of $30 whether you need 1 or 50. This info is from our packet. We have our medical set for Friday the 20th at 8-30am. They said we will get the results around 4pm. I hope this helps for planning purposes. Good luck all!!!!!

Thanks for the info, Bill. We are going to the same place actually, but in a few weeks, so we'll let you know how it is on the inside

Yes, it's a very reliable place and the results are ready the same day. I used it and was very happy with it. You'll probably have to wait there in the lobby for like an hour or so after the whole procedure is done, but it's no big deal, right?

Noone,
How long does the actual medical exam take? What do they do?

We went there as well, granted nearly 3 years ago. You go to one address, wait about an hour and register / pay. Then you are given a map and sent to another clinic. At the next building you sign in and wait again up to an hour. Finally they call them in. My wife was out within two hours and we were free around 1pm or so. After that you return to the first building and pick up your results in the afternoon. We explored Moscow instead until then.
As far as what they do during the medical. My wife said it was a standard Russian check up done by Russian staff. Chest Ex-Ray. She didn't describe anything beyond that.

Like Satellite said, chest x-ray, general check up, blood test. Not long at all, maybe an hour tops including waiting in line. What was a little strange though - the male doctor asked me to take my clothes off. All of it. But it may be a normal thing for a check up, it was my first one with somebody I didn't know (my mom is a doctor, so I didn't need to see strangers for an exam)

And you had to pay him?

You know now thinking about it... He was sort of flirting! Ladies, watch out!

Slim - you were in the service... I've had more 'routine' physicals in my life than anyone I know. Bend over, cough, pee in a cup, and blood.

DODMERB - you may be familiar with these guys. Department of Defense Medical Examinaition Review Board. It took them 3 years to decide that I wasn't fit for military service (unless, of course, they were to fail to meet their recruiting goal. In that case, good to go.) Navy, Army and Air Force all had me checked at numerous places. They don't seem to trust each other, so that meant blood for the Navy, blood for the Air Force... At the time, rather than use one clinic, they contracted out to a bunch of specialists. One clinic for eye tests, one clinic for dental exam, etc... The dentist didn't see me naked.

The FAA. They like also like pee in a cup, every 6 months. Bend over and cough, and also making sure that you haven't developed color blindness since the last physical. You get to pay for this one.

Regular physicals. I guess these are a good idea too. They get to see you naked as well.

Taking clothes off for doctors seems pretty normal to me. I mean honestly, their job is to examine your body. How do you do that with 80% of it covered? Lawyers don't look at half of the facts in a case out of respect for your privacy...

Hmm the last time I went to the dentist they asked me the same thing and I didn't have to pay.

No. They look at them out of respect for your money! "Let's see here.... that's 15 hours of case research and background information checks at $475/hour..... all completely necessary for your DUI charge."

If you go for an eye exam, you shouldn't have to bend over and cough unless there's something connected to your eyes that coughing while bent over is going to fix. I'm not aware of any such thing, but maybe it's out there! I don't know, I'm not a doctor. I know it is possible to over-exert yourself (like by coughing while bent over) causing you to pop a vein in your ocular cavity, which, in turn, fills it with blood and constricts your ocular nerve causing temporary blindness! Did they check you for that???

I joined the service scared of needles. I also had mildly flat feet, slight hearing loss, and near-color blindness. (I fail that pseudo-isochromatic plate test every time. Can't see the little numbers. I can tell them the color of every individual little dot on the page, but I can't make out the numbers. I suck at the "sailboat" pictures as well!)

I left the service impervious to being stuck by anything smaller than a bayonet, no tread left on my boots (from lots and lots of walking next to VERY LOUD jet aircraft) and have the numbers on that d@mn test memorized. I can see colors just fine, can hear the doctor telling me to bend over and cough at my eye exam, and have no trouble standing for long periods at my job right now.

What did I learn from the military medical process?

A doctor with a degree in Botany (and/or History... take your pick) knows less about "medicine" than I do based on my 7th grade Science class.

They do however, know more about getting government kick-backs than I'll ever be able to fathom. I'm so glad I'm a civilian now. Web-MD is free, and after being in the military medical "care" system, an aspirin and a band-aid is a step up from the usual.

The usual? "Here, take 800mg Motrin and if your knee is still twisted backwards next week, call us."

(I did have a wonderful ACL reconstruction done by an Ohio State University Medical School grad, on Uncle Sam's dime. Only fitting, I guess, since I injured it dismounting an 8-ft fence (in full kit) and landing on my mildly flat feet!)

My wife was harrassed at MOM and, around the same time, they tried to run a TB scam on Searchers fiance.

We'll use a different clinic this time.

I have heard far more good comments on the other clinic than MOM. Even though it costs $ 15.00 more and you have to wait until the next morning for results I think there are some advantages in the way they treat people.

Is customer service really expected at a place like that?

I learned quickly in Russia, customer service is a foreign concept. Why should the doctor's office be any different?

Harrassment is a different ballgame, but to expect any kind of "service" seems to be asking for too much.

I agree with you about customer service. I think particularly where you have a basically captive audience you loose competitive pricing and customer service.

I hear better things about the other clinic but it looks like we are going to go with MOM. With a Tuesday interview the one day service cuts her stay in Moscow signifigantly. Medical on Monday, Interview Tue, fly back home late Tuesday. Since there is only one flight a day (acutally 3 but they leave simultaneously if that is not the stupidest thing.) Sunday for travel just to be safe.

Where is her visa going to be sent? Will they send it DHL to Grenada?

We leave for Moscow tomorrow night for the friday morning exam at the IOM. I will post the experience on monday.

Slim, I think DHL will send it anywhere in the world that you pay for delivery. We are going to end our Caribbean time together in Mid August and she is going to go back to her city, Barnaul and get the police report and anything else she needs. I am going to head back to Pittsuburgh and get my tax, I-134, financial, employment etc info together and DHL it to her. Then do some work on the house before she gets here.

That timing was about our original plans anyway. I was going to head home for a few months and take care of business and then if we had still been in A/R we would have returned to the Caribbean for a few more months.

Had we stayed in A/R long enough I think we would have bought property here and just moved here perminantly.

Maybe not a bad option, even being out of A/R. Pittsburgh (especially the Steelers...) SUCKS!!!!!

Just kidding. Had to throw some snow (soon, anyway) at the rivals. WHO DEY!!!! OK. All joking aside, if you have the chance to live in the Caribbean, why on earth would you want to live anywhere in the States?

Watch it, mister!!!!!! I know what happens to mouthy Bengals fans in Pittsburgh - and believe me, they teach you politeness once and for all!!! So watch your mouth!!!!

What happened to the patriotic American "The States is the best country in the world!" attitude that's so typical for the locals here?

Just a few more weeks.... and we'll see who's boss!




I love the U.S.A. and I'd defend it with my life against a foreign invader, but I'm probably the last person you'll see waving the flag and hyping up the "best country in the world."

That "best country in the world" stuff.... where were all those people on Sept. 10th, 2001? All the "proud to be American" and "best country" and all that, it was there, and there were proud people, but it wasn't advertised as hypocritically as it is today. Our "patriots" now have a magnetic sticker on their car. They love America because they have a ribbon. They're supporting the troops and opposing the terrorists........ and eroding our Constitution. Thanks, America.

Well for one thing it is hard to see the steeler games down here and I always enjoy watching the steelers beat the Bengals. For another you stand out like a sore thumb down here wearing your Steeler tossle cap and jacket and waving the terrible towel. I keep worrying they are going to lock me up in the looney bin.

I am not sure how good or bad out team will be this year with the new coach but one thing I can say for the Steelers is they always have the best fans in football. I have been to games in Cinci and even Kansas city with more Steeler fans than the local team.

Absolutely. I've been to "the Jungle" a few times where I thought I was going to get my @$$ kicked for not waving the terrible towel. It's pretty sad.

But, to demonstrate our "great fans" here in Cincinnati, opening day Reds tickets were selling for upwards of $400 for nosebleeds. The next game? $8. By the end of the season, they practically give them away.

Bengals games are always sold out, but as mentioned, there are usually more opposing team jerseys in the stands than orange and black.

Cincinnati sucks. Although, it is nice to be able to watch professional sports live and in person, and not too far from home. So, as long as we have a home team, I'll support them. But, only as whole-heartedly as the rest of the city!

Thank you!!! Yes, the team has the best fans possible, very loyal. And if anything, this season will at least be interesting with all new players and coach (boy, he is better be good! We could use some victory!)
And they always beat Bengals, always! (ha-ha, Slim! You ain't stand no chance!)

You guys are forgetting where Bengals head coach, Marvin Lewis, came from.....

Pittsburgh.

Without the 'stache and chin on the other sideline, really, it's going to be like the Cincinnati Steelers playing the Pittsburgh Bengals. Or something like that. Either way, Pittsburgh's best player will be calling the game.

Yeah yeah yeah, whatever... Once you put on black and gold, you are Steelers!!!! No way back. It's more than a team. it's more than a game. It's dignity, legacy, pride!

That is the worst part of being here, I am going to miss 2 or 3 preseason games. I do think the Bengals have made a lot of improvement and will give you a good reason to watch them. I am looking forward to the season but with less confidence about exactly how good we will or won't be.

Now you know how us Red Wing fans feel, go to a hockey game in phoenix and you see more winged wheels than coyotes. I cant talk football *sniff* Im a (cowardly) lions fan.

Oh, the horror. You're probably better off wearing a Bears or Browns jersey, as sorry as that is. I like Chicago, but I'd never, ever support Cleveland. It's a close second to Pittsburgh when it comes to football. Second to last, that is.

Last year I had an experience that let me apprectiate how rabidly loyal the fans of Pittsburgh are. I was in Atlanta and had an offer to go with some people to the preseason Atlanta - Ravens game. I was to meet them in front of a particular gate and they were late and I was early. I had to stand there for maybe an hour and a half. The whole time I saw TWO people in Ravens attire out of maybe 4000 or so that walked past me. Had that game been against the steelers it would have been just like the other away games I have been to even though it was pre season.

Now you are just talking crazy there. Bears ummm NO!!! I cant stand Chicago, all there pollution blows north across lake michigan and makes my air hard to breathe. Cleavland, didnt they set fire to a lake or something? Nope we all have bad years(in the case of the lions its a decade or two, but hey the good thing to look at is we prevented 3 heisman trophy winning quarterbacks from getting egotistical. If you ever want to wreck a quarterback trade him to detroit. Of course we did have a few years that were exciting with Mr Sanders in the backfield.

The great thing about being a hockey fan(besides the fact that you are a hockey fan) is that I only have to endure the start of Lions football and then its hockey season, so usually the Lions are .500 and then the Wings start. Plus several of the players playing for the wings now started in Grand Rapids and I got to know them while I worked at the arena. Hudler, Kopecky,Filpula.

But dont get too cocky there Slim with the Steelers you still have to endure the Penguins(Crosby is great but then who) you are back to the pt where you had only Super Mario and nothing else.

I've heard Mr. Sanders may make a return to the gridiron. He's hinted at it several times, and it's probably too late, but we all know who the real rushing champion would've been if he would've had truck-sized holes like Emmitt had. The only man to ever compare to Sweetness, it brought a tear to my eye when Barry said "I just couldn't break Walter's record. I respected the man and his record too much, his record had to stand."

The greatest thing about Red Wings hockey (besides Gordie, of course) was seeing Anna Kournikova in all the Sergei Federov publicity shots.

I really like hockey, but liking hockey here is almost as bad as liking soccer. Nobody gets it. We have two minor league teams and the games are a blast to go to but it's almost impossible to find someone to go with. Maybe someday they'll get it. Until then... it's WHO DEY all the way!

And lastly, back to football...... When I was about four years old, I got a football for Christmas. I carried that ball all the time and one day a few months later we went to a garage sale where they had a helmet for sale. The team on that helmet? The Pittsburgh Steelers. They instantly became my favorite team, and whenever I played football with the neighborhood kids, I was a Steeler. (I lived in northern Indiana, so most of them were Colts or Bears.) When we moved to Cincinnati, I was heartbroken when I found out the Bengals' biggest rival was the Steelers. I didn't embrace the Bengals until years later while I was overseas and the Bengals were a way to show where I was from. I came back, and now we have coach Marvin Lewis (who was Bill Cowher's side-kick out there for a few years at Three Rivers) so the Bengals are starting to play Pittsburgh style football.

It's going to be an interesting year. (Especially if all of our players can stay out of jail!)

That's a very cute football story, Slim!
I am not a big fan of hockey (even the irresistible charms of Pavel Bure didn't change my mind on that - the charms of Polamalu turned out to be stronger! )

LOL, I had to take my clothes off too. He looked all over my body ... I guess to see if I had anything visible on my skin. I know genital warts can be present on the inner thighs so perhaps he was looking for something like that LOL.

I have seen on here that some women have had to spread their butt cheeks and the DR looked in their butts. Some have also had pap smears to check for chlamydia and gonorrhea. I forgot what country these women were from though. I would have felt so embarrassed if I had to do THAT! Kinda violated, you know?

I believe one consents to the medical exam before going in. No one forces you to move to the US or take the medical exam as a requirement to come here. As a country, the USA can take every precaution necessary to protect its sovereignty. Including issuing such medical exams or just plain denying entry to anyone.

We are also planning to go to this clinic.

How far is the this second building from the first building? You say that they gave a map, so I am assuming that its not that close to the first building? Would you know the address of the second building?

And how is the medical test - my fiancee wanted to find out if its an elaborate test in different rooms, labs etc?

And is this a usual clinic where other people, meaning where other people also come for medical exams unrelated to US immigration needs? Does she have to wait in line with other public or does she get some preferred treatment in terms of waiting time due to the US immigration requirement?




We are also planning to go to this clinic.

How far is the this second building from the first building? You say that they gave a map, so I am assuming that its not that close to the first building? Would you know the address of the second building?

And how is the medical test - my fiancee wanted to find out if its an elaborate test in different rooms, labs etc?

And is this a usual clinic where other people, meaning where other people also come for medical exams unrelated to US immigration needs? Does she have to wait in line with other public or does she get some preferred treatment in terms of waiting time due to the US immigration requirement?

Also wanted to find out what this medical exam consists of - does it include fasting blood test? If yes, then its bit difficult to be hungry for so long while waiting in line for hours

It's the hair, isn't it? You wanna just pulll that hair and......

He's actually an awesome guy. So nice and good off the field.... a freakin MONSTER on it. And with that mocha skin and the long dark flowing tresses.... the soap runnin down the crack of his......


AH!!!! I got yall!! Yall thought I was... these is jokes. I'm joking. Just.... anyway. (There's a radio station here that has a talk show (the Russ Parr morning show... nationally syndicated, check it out) character named "coach." Coach is always "calling in" to the show to talk about how his players did in the game. He starts by telling about their abilities and onfield performance... but he always ends up in the shower with "his big firm buttocks and the soapy water just sudsin all over...." Then he gets hung-up on. )

Well, yeah, it is the hair... and mocha skin... and the way his butt looks in those tight pants

I'll check it out!

It's about 1 km. #27 Zamorenova ul.



IOM is Here

The Hospital they send you to is Here

It's also on the Google Earth map I refer to from a previous post.

ok thanks. very helpful.

Seeing that map just made me all nostalgic. I'll go back to Moscow some day.

Some day.

On the way from IOM to the Hospital there's a McCafe at 31 Krasnaya Presnya ul.
Nice little coffee shop part of McDonalds.






I miss that, wish they would open them here!