Required Vaccinations?

[Sammy&Marq 1]

I have an appointment with the Travel Nurse at my local doctors on the 23rd November 2011. I have filled out the form for medical and vaccination history for the appointment.

I'm getting the ball rolling with this now so I'm ready when the time comes for my medical. Starting early in case I need follow ups etc, and to avoid costs of vaccinations at the medical. I know the cost for the medical in London is £210, and signifcantly more if you get the vaccinations there.

I've read conflicting information regarding what jabs are required for the K1.

Could someone who has had their medical in London and required vaccinations recently, please give me some info on what vaccinations they had done? I want to go to my doctors appointment with the knowledge in case the Travel Nurse doesn't know the specifics for a K1.

Thanks in advance for responses, and taking the time to read. Good luck on your visa journeys.

[Lainie B 465]

Do you have any of your prior vaccination records, especially the ones from childhood? If not you should start by getting those.

[Sammy&Marq 1]

I had an MMR vaccine - Measles, Mumps & Rubella - when I was little, and a BCG when I was about 15, which if I remember rightly is a Tuberculosis vaccine. This will be on record at my doctors, so they will know.

I've read that 2 injections are required, an Influenza jab and a DTaP vaccine, for the prevention of Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis. Is that correct? What about Polio and Hepatitis B?

It says that they are required on the USCIS - Vaccination Requirement page

[R and L 5]

I did the same thing...got appointment from normal health center's nurse and check with her my vaccines, to reduce the bill at the spouse visa medical.

My husband and I are doing the CR-1 visa, and I'm not from London, but maybe my advice helps?

1) Before having my nurse appointment, I printed out the list of vaccines required.

Now in CR-1 they require more vaccines, but like they said somewhere in the website, on K1 you might want to consider just taking all the immigrant visa required vaccines, as you will need to take them anyways for your adjustment of status when you require the rest of the vaccines.

Basically, would it be cheaper to get the vaccines in UK, than later on in USA?

2) When I met the nurse, we went through the whole list of vaccines and she told me whether the vaccines are normally required from a healthy woman in their 30' etc like myself. Some vaccines in the list are for little children, old people, for people in a risk group etc. Of course, in the end, it's up to the doctor in the official medical to determine which vaccines can be waived, but at least going through the vaccine recommendations gives a good clue.

3) I got polio and tetanus+dipheria boosters, since got last polio and tetnus+diphteria booster vaccines about 10 years back.

For Hepatitis A & B not sure what are the recommendations as got them before already. If you need to take Hepatitis, be aware that it takes some weeks before it covers you. Influenza I'm pondering myself too, whether to take or not?

Hope this helps even a bit!

[Lainie B 465]

Even though it says "required" on the list you won't need all of the vaccines - a lot of them will be deemed "not age appropriate", and you won't need them either in the UK or when you adjust status in the US.

You could go to the medical, find out what vaccines are needed, then either get them at the medical if there are not too many, or else get them done at your travel nurse and take the documentation with you to the US and have a civil surgeon verify the vaccination records and fill in the I-693 vaccination table.

[Sammy&Marq 1]

R and L your advice helps a lot, and it's good to hear from someone experienced in the matter too, thank you! Thank you Lainie B too!

It will be a lot cheaper to get them done here in England, most likely they will be free on the NHS. I will print out the list of vaccinations and take it with me to my appointment. I understand that there are some age appropriate vaccines and that it is down to the doctor at the medical to determine what ones are needed. But I think having the appointment with the Travel Nurse and getting most, if not all of them done sooner would be great and put my mind at rest, for a less stressful and less costly medical.

I really want to be prepared for the later stages.

Thanks again for your help! Much appreciated!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I've read conflicting information regarding what jabs are required for the K1.

ZERO vaccines are required to get a K1 visa. Knightsbridge doctors will suggest what you need, but it is not until you file for AOS that you need to meet the immunization requirements. However if your doctor will give them free on NHS, then it's good to have them done in the UK.

Here's what the AOS people will be looking for:

27 through 49 years: Td or Tdap (if DT, DTP or DTaP shown: okay to accept); MMR; Varicella

You only have to prove those shots, not go back and cover every childhood shot listed was given at some point in your life. Also, if your medical exam is during flu season (Oct 1-March 31) then a flu shot for all ages has been added and not just for over age 50. Since you are starting early, go back for the second dose of MMR after 4 weeks have passed.

The regulations further say the Diptheria/Tetanus/Pertussis variations must be within the last 10 years, so a baby shot (if in your records) would still need updating. Td is the booster for this if your doctor won't repeat pertussis, but any of those combinations will be okay for AOS. Also remember this is a USA list so your UK doctor is not the one to advise you on what you need. The UK has different standards and while your UK doctor may say you don't need something, it's the USA you have to please. I've read many posts that say some UK GPs won't give Pertussis again. My husband's GP gave him the DTP (baby version) with no problem because he asked and didn't charge him either. They do not have to do immigration shots for free on NHS, but many do.

Varicella is not routinely available in the UK, so you can get that once in the US before filing for AOS. Yes, adults can get varicella shots. (Knightsbridge does take your word for it if you say you had chickenpox.) You can get other shots (MMR & Tdap) in the US too if you decides to wait. You will have to have a Civil Surgeon sign off on the immunization section of a medical form I-693. K1s can actually skip the civil surgeon form I-693 if they get every requirement recorded on their Knightsbridge immunization form DS-3025. But without chickenpox or the varicella shot, you will definitely not have it complete in the UK and will have to do so in the US to include with the AOS application.

Summary of what you should do to get covered now for your eventual AOS:

Td or Tdap or DT or DTP or DTaP

MMR x2 (four weeks apart)

Flu shot (if you estimate you will file AOS before next March 31 -end of flu season)

Tell Knightsbridge you had chickenpox