Confused about medical and interview appointment

[fussycat 0]

We sent our packet 3 on August 25 and expected to have the interview letter by now, it's been 7 weeks. So today I'm reading through FAQ's on the embassy website and this bit sticks out:

"Please note that you will not receive notification of the date and time of the visa interview until the Immigrant Visa Unit has received the results of the medical examination."

I am now mortified because all this time I've been waiting for the interview appointment before I schedule the medical, does this mean I've just wasted us 1.5 months? The instructions for the medical say that it is advisable to book it before but not compulsory!

I've been on the phone trying to book the appointment but the number is constantly busy, hope I can get it booked asap.

Does anyone know if we'll have to wait another month after the medical for the interview appointment or it will be faster?

If it helps, I'm IR1 and DCF in London.

[Barbara J 115]

We sent our packet 3 on August 25 and expected to have the interview letter by now, it's been 7 weeks. So today I'm reading through FAQ's on the embassy website and this bit sticks out:

"Please note that you will not receive notification of the date and time of the visa interview until the Immigrant Visa Unit has received the results of the medical examination."

I am now mortified because all this time I've been waiting for the interview appointment before I schedule the medical, does this mean I've just wasted us 1.5 months? The instructions for the medical say that it is advisable to book it before but not compulsory!

I've been on the phone trying to book the appointment but the number is constantly busy, hope I can get it booked asap.

Does anyone know if we'll have to wait another month after the medical for the interview appointment or it will be faster?

If it helps, I'm IR1 and DCF in London.

From my experience in Australia I had to have my medical done before as had to send it in with packet 3. You will need to get that done asap and send in express post stating your case number then they should get on it quickly for you. Same here if you don't email US consulate you wont hear anything for ages till they are ready to send you info. Good luck but you may have to wait some more now or they will send you packet 4 pronto with interview date.

Edited October 13, 2010 by barbarajlw

[Nik+Heather 121]

London has been making policy changes in this direction for about a year now. They really want all of the information to make a decision to be at the embassy on the day of your interview. That's why they have the checklist which confirms that you have collected all of your documents - and why they announced that you must have completed the medical prior to the interview. I guess that wasn't clear enough because people were having the medical the day before, so they started saying they wanted you to have the medical in time for the results to arrive before your interview, and now I guess they've gone full out and said you have to get the results there before they even assign one.

I wouldn't feel too badly, as I said it seems to be a relatively recent change in policy, so you couldn't have known.

[July-lucky 0]

Hey, did you manage to book your medical. I can't believe they have change their policy. I need to book mine too. Has anyone gone through the interview without booking the medical recently?

We sent our packet 3 on August 25 and expected to have the interview letter by now, it's been 7 weeks. So today I'm reading through FAQ's on the embassy website and this bit sticks out:

"Please note that you will not receive notification of the date and time of the visa interview until the Immigrant Visa Unit has received the results of the medical examination."

I am now mortified because all this time I've been waiting for the interview appointment before I schedule the medical, does this mean I've just wasted us 1.5 months? The instructions for the medical say that it is advisable to book it before but not compulsory!

I've been on the phone trying to book the appointment but the number is constantly busy, hope I can get it booked asap.

Does anyone know if we'll have to wait another month after the medical for the interview appointment or it will be faster?

If it helps, I'm IR1 and DCF in London.

[fussycat 0]

Hey, did you manage to book your medical. I can't believe they have change their policy. I need to book mine too. Has anyone gone through the interview without booking the medical recently?

Booked the medical for next week, the lady on the phone said she could book me in on any day and any time I wanted, I wish my GP was so easy to see!

Let's just hope that I'll get my interview appointment soon after I've done the medical, we want to be able to move before the end of the year. Feeling a bit better about it now.

[July-lucky 0]

Booked the medical for next week, the lady on the phone said she could book me in on any day and any time I wanted, I wish my GP was so easy to see!

Let's just hope that I'll get my interview appointment soon after I've done the medical, we want to be able to move before the end of the year. Feeling a bit better about it now.

[July-lucky 0]

Good luck. Hopefully they will assign you an interview date soon. I want to be able to get the vaccination on the NHS, If that is at all possible before booking my medical. But before that I want to find out which vaccinations are needed for females.

[KelleyAndRichie 0]

we are running into the same problem... after waiting nearly the entire 5 months for an NOA2 (CSC decided to go on a holiday i guess) we are impatiently awaiting our packet 3 from london

from what i just noticed, they won't schedule your interview until after the medical results are in hand. which is a bummer since my fiance is form northern ireland and popping over to london is not an easy experience.

now i was under the impression that you needed your case number from the london embassy before you can schedule your medical... is this still the case? ideally i would just call this week and schedule his medical some time in the next week or two (when i will be over visiting) but i know it can take up to a month to receive the packet 3 after your NOA2 so im not optimistic.

we are supposed to be married in january... heck i expected to be bringing him home with me midnovember. sigh. sorry if this is a bit unclear, i am just frazzled to think that we may be waiting even longer

[JoannaV 173]

we are running into the same problem... after waiting nearly the entire 5 months for an NOA2 (CSC decided to go on a holiday i guess) we are impatiently awaiting our packet 3 from london

from what i just noticed, they won't schedule your interview until after the medical results are in hand. which is a bummer since my fiance is form northern ireland and popping over to london is not an easy experience.

now i was under the impression that you needed your case number from the london embassy before you can schedule your medical... is this still the case? ideally i would just call this week and schedule his medical some time in the next week or two (when i will be over visiting) but i know it can take up to a month to receive the packet 3 after your NOA2 so im not optimistic.

Yes you need the case number to book the medical. If you've got the NOA2 then you should be receiving the case number very very soon.

The Embassy hasn't entirely switched over to their new policy: I know someone from Northern Ireland who managed to have their medical the same day (or the day before) as the interview just a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately the Embassy is not telling anyone if they are allowing exceptions such as these, so assuming that they are making an exception for Northern Irelanders might not be a good plan. However, might be worth trying to phone+email the Embassy to see if they will provide a concrete answer...

[KelleyAndRichie 0]

Yes you need the case number to book the medical. If you've got the NOA2 then you should be receiving the case number very very soon.

The Embassy hasn't entirely switched over to their new policy: I know someone from Northern Ireland who managed to have their medical the same day (or the day before) as the interview just a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately the Embassy is not telling anyone if they are allowing exceptions such as these, so assuming that they are making an exception for Northern Irelanders might not be a good plan. However, might be worth trying to phone+email the Embassy to see if they will provide a concrete answer...

After a good bit of talking with my fiance i think he is just going to suck it up and take a ryanair flight over for the day and just hope for a mid/late afternoon appointment. Its not worth the risk to have one person tell me that us doing it that way is ok only to get there on that day and have someone else decide it was not. thanks for the info tho! just found out our petition got forwarded from the NVC to london today so hopefully we will have packet three soon so we can get the ball rolling on everything! from what ive seen there have been few k1 approvals recently, so maybe we wont have to wait the whole two months it typically takes for everything!