agrabs

I have never had a problem with the translation services our office uses. My practice includes many under- served communities. I even have quite a few deaf patients which require a translator to sign. It is actually the provider that foots the bill for the translation service and we are not reimbursed by insurance or the patient for the service. It is not necessary for the translator to have any training in Optometry as they are only translating word for word what I am telling the patient or what the patient is asking me. The translator is not making a diagnosis or giving any medical information to the patient that wasn't said by the Doctor so no medical knowledge is necessary - only knowledge of HIPPA and other privacy requirements by law. There are plenty of ATA certified translation services to choose from. As far as the urgency of "low vision" - there is none. Low vision by definition refers to vision loss that cannot be corrected by medical or surgical treatments or conventional eyeglasses. It is a rehab service to help patients use their remaining vision to perform daily tasks. Yes it is caused by progressive eye disease but theses diseases would have been diagnosed and treated before the patient is referred for low vision. I am not trying to argue with you I am hoping to give you information that you can use to realistically figure out what your fiance can do with her training once she moves here as she will not be able to volunteer or practice any form of optometry - low vision or even the dreaded vision training until she has a doctorate degree from an accredited US university, passed all 4 years of the NBEO exams and sits for the state exams. I suggest that once she gets her EAD she first get a job as an ophthalmic technician. (we have a couple of bilingual techs that are an awesome asset) so she can work in the field of optometry/ophthalmology while she pursues her education if she wants to practice Optometry. I am actually trying to help you here. I have done medical missions (its how I met my husband) and have been thru the immigration process with him. Unfortunately there is nothing quick and easy about the process and no one wants to be separated from their loved one for the length of time it takes but use that time to plan ahead for what your fiance may need to work in her field.

So if I am understanding you correctly she will basically be providing translation services? If she is only going to be translating then I wouldn't think that would be a reason to expedite as there are plenty of translation services available to the medical community. We use them everyday in our practice. All providers who receive federal funds from HHS for the provision of services are obligated to make language services available to those with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 504 of the Rehab Act of 1973. www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/financial-management/medicaid-administrative-claiming/translation If she is going to be giving advice or making referrals based on clinical assessment - she will need to be licensed. If she is interested in providing optometric care in the US feel free to pm me and I can send you links to help her get started with what is needed for education, licensing and malpractice info.

https://www.ryancorte.com/post/how-does-an-international-optometrist-practice-in-the-usa as a follow up to my previous post I would like to add that unless she graduated from an accredited school of optometry in the United States she will not be able to get licensed here. My point being that an expedite will not do any good because she will not be able to practice optometry here without additional education/ training/ licensing

I am A doctor of Optometry and have been in practice for 31 years. I can tell you that first of all - there is not a shortage of optometrists, and all optometrists are trained to do low vision. Secondly I hold 3 state licenses and the credentials for each state are different and very specific. Have you looked into what it will take to get licensed in that state? I recently applied for a license in another state and It took months to get licensed and all my education and training was done here in the states. I had to jump thru hoops to get the state of Wisconsin to accept my general and ocular pharmacology hours and I hold both a DEA and BNDD license in 2 other states. Unfortunately Optometry doesn't offer reciprocity between states. They do have licensure by endorsement between states but that means you have to have already been in practice for a certain period of time in your state. Even volunteer work would require you to be licensed in that state. Make sure your fiance knows what she will need to do to get licensed to practice in your state. Has she taken the NBEO exams? if not I would start there as they are required in every state. Getting licensed here could take as long or longer than getting your EAD. There is no expediting the licensure process

My husband is from Romania and we did the K1 visa but if I had it to do all over again I would go the Cr1 route. I severely under estimated how difficult those first 6 months would be for my husband to not be able to work while we were waiting on the work permit during the adjustment of status. We were so excited to finally be together that we thought it would be no big deal. The reality was that after the first couple of weeks I had to go back to work and he spent most of his time hanging out in the apartment alone. I was the only one here that he knew so it wasn't like he could go hang out with friends and in our state he could not get a driver's license until we had the EAD approval. It was the perfect recipe for homesickness. It would have been a lot easier for him to adjust to life here if he had the green card when he entered the country. We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary a few months ago - can't believe how fast it has gone by. Good luck with whatever route you take - both will eventually give you the same outcome!

the state of Missouri does not do this. You will need to take the written, vision and driving part of the test. If you had an eye exam within 90 days of taking the test your eye doctor can fill out the vision portion but that is the only part. You will have to take the written and driving and identify the road signs on the vision part.

Great information! Thank you for taking the time to share!