Help regarding Medical Appointment and Fingerprinting

[Pinball1921 4]

I emailed the Panamanian embassy and was less than enthused about their reply, so I hope to find an answer here. This is what I wrote:

"Dear Sir or Ma'am,

I am a US citizen that is seeking a immigrant visa for my wife that is a
Panamanian citizen and currently living in Panama. We have just had our
I-130 approved and are entering the National Visa Center portion of the
process. My question refers to the medical appointment. How does that work?
Can we schedule an appointment now? Or do we have to wait for the NVC to
make an appointment for the interview? Also, when is my wife supposed to
get fingerprinted? I haven't heard anything about that yet. I'd like to get
as much done before hand to save time if possible. I have had the I-130
approval expedited and expect the NVC to expedite as well, so anything we
can do to prepare for the interview would be helpful. Thank you for reading
and taking the time to reply.

Very Respectfully,

XXXX"

And this was their reply:

"Thank you for writing to the U.S. Visa Service Desk. We understand that you would like to know about the immigrant visa application process. In order to continue with your immigrant visa petition, we kindly request you to please wait to receive notification of the next step. You should not begin interview preparation without notification from the NVC."

Are you kidding me? What kind of reply is that? Just tell me NO you can't have the medical appointment right now. But they didn't even say that. Clearly, I am expediting and trying to finish what I can control as soon as possible. Does anyone know an actual answer to this question? And I STILL don't know when or how my wife gets her fingerprinting done. Anyone have any info on that? I asked these questions on this forum before and was instructed to ask the embassy...a lot of help they are. Still no answers. Thanks for anyone that replies though!

[stevie b 141]

I emailed the Panamanian embassy and was less than enthused about their reply, so I hope to find an answer here. This is what I wrote:

"Dear Sir or Ma'am,

I am a US citizen that is seeking a immigrant visa for my wife that is a

Panamanian citizen and currently living in Panama. We have just had our

I-130 approved and are entering the National Visa Center portion of the

process. My question refers to the medical appointment. How does that work?

Can we schedule an appointment now? Or do we have to wait for the NVC to

make an appointment for the interview? Also, when is my wife supposed to

get fingerprinted? I haven't heard anything about that yet. I'd like to get

as much done before hand to save time if possible. I have had the I-130

approval expedited and expect the NVC to expedite as well, so anything we

can do to prepare for the interview would be helpful. Thank you for reading

and taking the time to reply.

Very Respectfully,

XXXX"

And this was their reply:

"Thank you for writing to the U.S. Visa Service Desk. We understand that you would like to know about the immigrant visa application process. In order to continue with your immigrant visa petition, we kindly request you to please wait to receive notification of the next step. You should not begin interview preparation without notification from the NVC."

Are you kidding me? What kind of reply is that? Just tell me NO you can't have the medical appointment right now. But they didn't even say that. Clearly, I am expediting and trying to finish what I can control as soon as possible. Does anyone know an actual answer to this question? And I STILL don't know when or how my wife gets her fingerprinting done. Anyone have any info on that? I asked these questions on this forum before and was instructed to ask the embassy...a lot of help they are. Still no answers. Thanks for anyone that replies though!

contact the panel physician that you will be using to see what they will require. some will only need the nvc case number, others will want the paper copy of the interview letter. also double check the valid duration of the medical once it is complete as it will still need to be valid upon entering the states

I got the same nonsense about a police certificate

[Pinball1921 4]

But how do I know which physicians are acceptable? What is a panel physician anyway? Thanks for replying.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Each embassy selects what medical groups are allowed, your spouse MUST use one of those people. Check out their website or some that went through there will answer shortly here

[Lovemad 7]

But how do I know which physicians are acceptable? What is a panel physician anyway? Thanks for replying.

Hi there Pinball1921, simply visit the U.S embassy in Panama's website http://panama.usembassy.gov/typesimmi.html and select the option which applies to you. I did a little search and here is a link with information about what physicians conduct medical examinations for U.S visa interviews in Panama and how to schedule a medical examination, http://travel.state.gov/pdf/medical/PNM-MED-MULT-0001-0907.pdf

A useful link concerning preparation for medical examinations I found was on the State Department's website, http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3739.html All you need to do is select the country which applies to you in the drop down box and then it provides you with the appropriate information about where and how to get a U.S visa medical for the relevant country.

Good luck!

Edited June 4, 2013 by Lovemad

[Pinball1921 4]

^^^ thank you very much. That is very helpful. However, I'm still confused about fingerprinting. When does that happen and how is that scheduled?