Vancouver Medical & Interview

[WalkonWildSide 0]

My GF lives in Whistler. Hopefully soon we will get the NOA2 approval. I was curious to know how other people handled the scheduling of the medical appointment and the consulate interview.

Since she lives in Whistler if she has to do these things on completely different days - i.e. 2 or 3 weeks before the consulate interview she will need to travel down to Vancouver on the Greyhound bus, not the most convenient situation. Ideally if she could do the medical exam the day before, and the next day have her visa interview that would be best. Only problem with this strategy is if there is a problem with the medical results, i.e. missing immunization or something.

I read somewhere that in Vancouver, you just "show up" at the clinic 6.30am? and get the exam done, and you can get the results at the end of the day.

Do people just check off on the checklist that you had the medical exam, just because you have it scheduled. Or do most people get the exam done, then send in the checklist to get the consulate interview.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Tankgurl38 0]

You can schedule your medical exam the day before your interview, since you can pick up your results at 2 pm that day.

Medical exams are only done on Wednesdays. Once you get your letter from the US Embassy in Vancouver, you can schedule your medical. You will need a copy of the letter they send you letting you know when your interview is for the medical exam.

Do NOT just show up, you need to make an appointment.

The best way to make an appointment in Vancouver is by emailing the clinic.

Their email address is:

wokingmedical@telus.net

[defunct 0]

You can also schedule the interview/medical for the same day. A woman I met during my medical had her medical in the morning, went for her vaccinations, had her interview at 2pm, went back to the clinic to pick up her results and back the the consulate to drop them off. That may be cutting it a little tight for someone who gets stressed easily, but it can be done.

If your finacee is planning on doing it in one day, be sure to tell her that although you schedule an appointment for 6:30 am, it is still first-come first-serve. So if she doesn't get there early enough, she may miss her interview time. Might be best to spread it out over 2-3 days.

If she is missing an immunization, the medical clinic will send her over the the Travel Vaccination office anyway, so that shouldn't be a concern.

Edited March 19, 2009 by eyoa

[Flames9_RN 358]

There have been a few (maybe many) that have done it onthe same day of their interview with success!! it is NOT the end of the world if things go haywire and you dont complete the Medical before the interview! You will goto the interview as scheduled, but they just wont issue you the visa UNTIL you have had the medical! But of course that is not the preferred route.

[TheATeam 0]

You definitely need to make an appointment for the medical. Definitely email the office with the address that Tankgurl has listed. Also, you can definitely send in your checklist before your medical. I would recommend it. The medical can be scheduled pretty easily, even though it's only on Wednesdays.

The medical is definitely first come first serve. We were there at 530 but we still weren't the first. They give you a form to fill out and so while it's important to be thorough, being fast is important too because they give you a number according to when you hand that form back in.

I had my interview on a Tuesday and then the medical on Wednesday. I dropped the medical results off on Wednesday afternoon, they checked them and said everything was good and to come back the next day to get the visa. We were fully prepared to be there for 3 days, me being from Edmonton Alberta there was no other way to do it. It was perfectly acceptable to do it this way. I'm not sure I would do the interview and medical in the same day. I think I would be too nervous that I wouldn't make it to the interview in time!

As for the missing immunizations, if she doesn't have a record of when she's had her shots, she should get her family doctor to do a titre test to show that she's had them, or she needs them. If she needs to have her shots she should be able to get them at her family doctor before the medical. Then she won't have to worry about that!

[LDora 7]

I came to Vancouver from Dawson Creek BC (yes, it's a place) for mine. I arrived at 5 AM the day of my interview after a 24 straight hour bus ride. I feel your gal's pain.

Yes, you need an appointment. The soonest they could fit me in was actually the day AFTER my interview, and after panicking for a while I discovered this actually wasn't a problem -- the officer I spoke to about it said it was no problem, but even if I passed my interview they couldn't issue me my Visa until they had my results, so to just bring them in the next day. (They gave me a piece of paper saying I would be returning to bring in documents.)

I showed up before the clinic even opened and there was already a line. I had been told when I made my appointment to show up as early as possible, which may be what you've been hearing. We filled out all our forms, and they took us through the tests, then told me to come back at the end of the day for results. (I went back and slept my FACE off, I tell you.) I came back, picked 'em up, and took 'em back to the consulate.

Just make sure the consulate is aware of your medical appointment status (if you don't have the documents at the time of the interview) when you go in.

Vancouver consulate and medical were both a breeze, everyone was very friendly.

[defunct 0]

As for the missing immunizations, if she doesn't have a record of when she's had her shots, she should get her family doctor to do a titre test to show that she's had them, or she needs them. If she needs to have her shots she should be able to get them at her family doctor before the medical. Then she won't have to worry about that!

It depends on the immunization. I needed a Tdap, which my doctor's office did not have. If she can get them from her doctor, then that's obviously going to be easier/cheaper, but if not, then don't worry. The Travel Immunization office is within walking distance of the medical office and you can easily do both in the same day.

[WalkonWildSide 0]

You can schedule your medical exam the day before your interview, since you can pick up your results at 2 pm that day.

Medical exams are only done on Wednesdays. Once you get your letter from the US Embassy in Vancouver, you can schedule your medical. You will need a copy of the letter they send you letting you know when your interview is for the medical exam.

Do NOT just show up, you need to make an appointment.

The best way to make an appointment in Vancouver is by emailing the clinic.

Their email address is:

wokingmedical@telus.net

Thanks everyone for the advice.

So the best strategy it seems is to do the following:

Get the checklist.

Complete everything else on the checklist, i.e. police check, ds-forms, etc...

send in the checklist

Get an interview date from the consulate - hopefully it is on a Thursday or Friday

email the Doctor's office for an appointment - which is only on Wednesday's

go to medical on Wednesday,

go to interview on Thursday

[WalkonWildSide 0]

As for the missing immunizations, if she doesn't have a record of when she's had her shots, she should get her family doctor to do a titre test to show that she's had them, or she needs them. If she needs to have her shots she should be able to get them at her family doctor before the medical. Then she won't have to worry about that!

Well she is having her mum translate her shot records from her family doctor. I looked at the list and it looks like she has everything. Good to know that the travel immunization clinic is right around the corner. Don't envy the idea of waking at 4am to stand in line at 5am for the clinic. However hopefully we will have the interview in Spring / Summer time so the weather won't be so bad. The things you just have to do.

[defunct 0]

Get an interview date from the consulate - hopefully it is on a Thursday or Friday

email the Doctor's office for an appointment - which is only on Wednesday's

go to medical on Wednesday,

go to interview on Thursday

When you send back the checklist, there is a space to write in a preferred interview date, so she could always write "The first available Thursday or Friday".

[TheATeam 0]

You could request a Thursday or Friday but those are the most popular days. You could always request a Tuesday and have the medical the day after your interview. That's what I did and it worked really well. When I tried to get a Thursday it would have set me back at least a month for the interview, so I took the Tuesday!

[coldwatersurf 5]

QUOTE (TheATeam @ Mar 19 2009, 03:14 PM) *

As for the missing immunizations, if she doesn't have a record of when she's had her shots, she should get her family doctor to do a titre test to show that she's had them, or she needs them. If she needs to have her shots she should be able to get them at her family doctor before the medical. Then she won't have to worry about that!

It depends on the immunization. I needed a Tdap, which my doctor's office did not have. If she can get them from her doctor, then that's obviously going to be easier/cheaper, but if not, then don't worry. The Travel Immunization office is within walking distance of the medical office and you can easily do both in the same day.

Some of the shots are free so i just got my shots again. People said the titre test took 10 days to get results? so i didnt want to wait that long and since most of the vaccines are covered under medical, it was faster and easier for me to just take the shots again.

As for Tdap, my family doc didnt have them (adacel)... i emailed the medical lab about this b/c i was over 10 years for my tetanus shot and the email said, "dont worry about it as you will not be able to get it within 2 years" i have no idea what that means if Adacel wasnt available for 2 years (?). But my doctor said Adacel is not yet popular so it may not even be available for some clinics. Anyways, i printed the email just in case they make a stink on my medical exam.

And as for interview date, i requested for a thursday or friday. I requested for all the thursday and fridays for April and got one 1 week after my exam which is on a thursday. I wanted to book 1 week after just in case there was something wrong with my medical exam and i didnt want to be panicking that week. I sent my checklist last week

I would suggest having everything the medical exam requires then booking an interview date far enough that you will be able to complete all the blood tests and vaccines required.

Edited March 23, 2009 by borderdriver

[carslo 0]

My dr wrote me a perscription for the tdap, which I had filled at the pharmacy it cost just under $40.00 and was not covered by Blue Cross. It has to be kept in the fridge until you can get back to your doctor for the injection. So another added expense for those in BC.

Janet

[defunct 0]

As for Tdap, my family doc didnt have them (adacel)... i emailed the medical lab about this b/c i was over 10 years for my tetanus shot and the email said, "dont worry about it as you will not be able to get it within 2 years" i have no idea what that means if Adacel wasnt available for 2 years (?). But my doctor said Adacel is not yet popular so it may not even be available for some clinics. Anyways, i printed the email just in case they make a stink on my medical exam.

I had to call around to find out anything about where to get Tdap Adacel. My doctor's office didn't have it and wouldn't even order it in for me because this is a U.S. vaccination which isn't really used in Canada at all... at least that's what it sounded like.

I tried going through the Health Authority but they directed me to the Travel Immunization Clinic, which charged around $55, so it sounds like trying to get a prescription is cheaper.

I have no idea what they mean by not being able to get it within 2 years. At my appointment, I just told them that I needed to go get it and they called the Travel Immunization Clinic to tell them they were sending me over.

[coldwatersurf 5]

I did my medical yesterday. apparently there are others who couldnt get the tdap adacel. they just got the td shot like I did. it was fine on my tests

I got there at 5:45am. There was 1 girl ahead of me and 1 family. by 6am, there were 22 people at the gate. I would suggest to come really early. lol. I was #2 and they did our tests in groups (ie. 1-4). So it felt like it went by fast. i got out of there by 8:30am. You really learn a lot about other people's visa journey. some are getting the same visa but we all had different stories and visa process. It started to confuse me so i just made sure to stick to what process I know of.

however we all had "incomplete vaccine history." and said something about i may apply for a blanket waiver b/c vaccines not medically approprite. the other girls looked like their vaccines were complete for their age. I know mine said my hpv was insufficient time interval or I had the chicken pox disease when i was younger. Should I be worried about that?

Another girl already went to her interview and suggested not to wear anything that would set the metal off @ the consulate as the security is super strict and rude. They said they had to take all her documents out of her folder and when they were done checking it, its basically up to you to put it back together. And she said no belt buckle, no bracelet, no keys or cell phones, even if you have some metal on your jacket, they will make you go back out the door and come right back in. I found that really helpful. Im just going to wear sweatpants and sweater. LOL.

Edited March 26, 2009 by borderdriver