O1 visa UK medical bus

[Jmc1 13]

My British colleague lives in US on an O1 visa. He has been advised by his lawyer that to get a green card, he will need to make a trip back to UK to get a medical done by the Knightsbridge London USCIS approved visa doctor, and then he will return a month or so later for his Green Card interview (so two return trips from US to UK, Knightsbridge had advised him to leave 2wks between the medical and interview, which is more than the 5 working days on their website). These two trips are necessary due to work commitments, as he will not be able to stay in UK for long enough to do both medical and interview in one go (although he could probably do just one trip if Knightsbridge were able to commit to sending the medical results within their usual 5x days).

 

Our questions are…

1. He hasn’t had the required MMR vaccine, which from my experience I’ve flagged to him is done in two stages at least 28 days apart. He does not have time to have the first one now before having the second one during his medical in London. IF he has MMR 1/2 injection in London (therefore incomplete), will this cause any delay for getting his green card after the interview? Or does he need to figure out a new medical date to get MMR today in US and then have injection 2/2 during his medical in London?

 

2. He has lived in US for around 7 years, so will bring a letter from his US doctor stating he does not have any current medical issues. Does he also need to get a letter from his old UK doctor too (only this seems to be a new requirement for the UK medical, but I assume the wording of it being from your UK doctor is general as the majority of people attending this medical will be current UK residents)?

 

Thank you very much!
 

[Boiler 43,436]

I have not had a MMR, depends on his age if he needs one.

 

Why is he not adjusting in the US?

[Jmc1 13]

Cheers for your reply. MMR is on their required list. When I did my K1 I also had not had it previously due to my age in UK. So Knightsbridge did MMR 1/2 for me and then I had to follow up with MMR 2/2 when I was in US before I submitted my AOS (which caused me delays and issues having MMR 2/2 'translated' onto the USCIS form here, then getting an RFE and having to re-do my whole medical in US).

 

So do you think that he may not need the MMR at all due to his work related path to green card, as opposed to my K1 visa path?

 

His lawyer advised that it would be significantly quicker to get the green card by returning to UK to process it than within US. His O1 expires soon and would cost approx $6k to renew that vs getting a green card. He was advised that AOS in US from his O1 would take approx 2 years as there is a huge backlog.

 

 

[Boiler 43,436]

6 minutes ago, Jmc1 said:

Cheers for your reply. MMR is on their required list. When I did my K1 I also had not had it previously due to my age in UK. So Knightsbridge did MMR 1/2 for me and then I had to follow up with MMR 2/2 when I was in US before I submitted my AOS (which caused me delays and issues having MMR 2/2 'translated' onto the USCIS form here, then getting an RFE and having to re-do my whole medical in US).

 

So do you think that he may not need the MMR at all due to his work related path to green card, as opposed to my K1 visa path?

 

His lawyer advised that it would be significantly quicker to get the green card by returning to UK to process it than within US. His O1 expires soon and would cost approx $6k to renew that vs getting a green card. He was advised that AOS in US from his O1 would take approx 2 years as there is a huge backlog.

 

 

I do not know the details of his case, just saying I did not, he may well need to do it.

 

O1 does not a Medical, Immigrants do.

 

Still do not understand the visit back, used to be most GC adjustments on work did not need to be interviewed, perhaps that is the issue, but 2 years?

[Jmc1 13]

Yes you are right, he did mention that is his issue - he's been told that as of late last year, all O1 to green card AOS now require an interview, which is what has caused this large backlog. Which is why he has been advised to go back to UK to interview there sooner (which requires the UK medical etc).

 

Thanks for mentioning your experience with the MMR. I'm trying use my own UK immigration experience to help him prevent any delays and getting stuck in UK with his job, home, pet etc all here, though of course my experience is via a completely different category, so don't want to worry him unnecessarily.

[Boiler 43,436]

Well saving 2 years seems unlikely, there is a risk of delays and being stuck in the UK, risk vs reward, The medical requirements are the same either way.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 hour ago, Jmc1 said:

Cheers for your reply. MMR is on their required list. When I did my K1 I also had not had it previously due to my age in UK. So Knightsbridge did MMR 1/2 for me and then I had to follow up with MMR 2/2 when I was in US before I submitted my AOS (which caused me delays and issues having MMR 2/2 'translated' onto the USCIS form here, then getting an RFE and having to re-do my whole medical in US).

 

So do you think that he may not need the MMR at all due to his work related path to green card, as opposed to my K1 visa path?

 

There are lots of vaccines on the list that adults get exemptef from due to age.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Also why is the cost of the visa renewal a problem, doesn’t the company pay for that? My friends on O visas have all had them fully paid for by the company. Versus as boiler points out the risk of him being stuck in the UK if they decide he needs to go on AP or something. Thread from not too far back on this forum where London took months on end to process the O visa and eventually took so long that the guy lost his job.  http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/655402-o-1-visa-not-on-the-system/

 

Plus, there is no appeal on a consular decision and there is in the US. So yes some other factors to consider that are quite different to K1.

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[Jmc1 13]

Thanks for both of your comments, very helpful. I was required to have the MMR vaccines for AOS from K1 and am in my 30s.

[Boiler 43,436]

1 minute ago, Jmc1 said:

Thanks for both of your comments, very helpful. I was required to have the MMR vaccines for AOS from K1 and am in my 30s.

Just a boy...

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Well, I just checked and we did indeed get MMR in our medical ..so while I know we were exempted from some vaccines due to our age, that wasn’t one of them

[Wuozopo 4,285]

4 hours ago, Jmc1 said:

and then he will return a month or so later for his Green Card interview

How does one interview for a green card in London? The Dept of State (embassy/consulate) interviews for visas.   Green cards are issued by USCIS. I don't follow the process.  What kind of visa is he getting? Has he worked into his trip plans that it can take 10 days to receive the visa after his interview in London? 

 

If he gets his first MMR at the medical, they waive the second on grounds of "insufficient time interval". Or if he got one in the US and 28 days had not passed when he went to Knightsbridge, he would get the same waiver. 

 

MMR is appropriate if born in 1957 or later. 

[Boiler 43,436]

Immigrant Visa, EB category.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Boiler

[Jmc1 13]

Correction, the interview in London will be to get a new visa sticker in passport, then physical Green Card will be sent to him in US later.

 

Thanks Wuozopo for the info on the MMR!

[fs2439 46]

On 3/8/2018 at 7:26 PM, Jmc1 said:

Correction, the interview in London will be to get a new visa sticker in passport, then physical Green Card will be sent to him in US later.

 

Thanks Wuozopo for the info on the MMR!

Hi jmc, can you update us on what was decided? Also, is it two years waiting for gc with advanced parole, i.e. able to travel in and out of the us? In that case, what's the disadvantage of aos? Thank you