Knightsbridge Nightmare.. hoping our experience can help others.

[ADAngel 40]

Hi guys, I just need to rant for a bit so here we go. Here's our detailed experience thus far.

 

We received our case number from NVC on the 18th of September and I immediately called and scheduled our medical interview to give us as much time as possible between the medical and the interview. We scheduled his medical for October 3rd at 10:30 am, the soonest they had, a bit early but we were only an hour train ride from London Waterloo, so not the end of the world. We spent the next two weeks getting together everything he would need, the second MMR he never received, Flu Jab from the NHS at the local Tesco, etc.. 

October 3rd rolls around, everything was pretty straight forward, they let me sit in the waiting room while Tony went through the whole process. He gave a urine samples, then had to do a chest x-ray, he came back to the waiting room and waited a bit before seeing the other doctor. This is where things started to go south. He went into the office and the doctor noted that his Atrial Septal Defect (small hole in the lining of the septum of the heart) was listed as an "active" health condition on his GP summary, despite the fact that he had surgery 9 years ago to repair the hole - which was also listed on his GP summary. The doctor explains that he doesn't think that this will be a problem but he will need to ask the other doctor to see if they need more information. He comes back to the waiting room. I'm disappointed but had a feeling that they might bring it up so I had mentally prepared myself. We wait a bit longer, they inform us we missed a vaccination (Tetanus, but we can get it in the US before AOS). We had back up to the counter and they give us a letter to give to his GP stating that they need "more information" about his heart condition and the repair surgery (yes the letter was this painfully vague).

 

So begins our nightmare. 

 

Later that day we drop the letter off at his GP, hoping that we would be able to get all of this sorted before his interview that was scheduled for October 24th. Only to be told that it could take them 30 days to get a hold of the information, but they'd e-mail it directly to Knightsbridge.

A few weeks go by, it's now October 18th and we get a call from his GP, telling us that the paperwork we wanted was ready to be picked up. Not what they had said they would do, but okay. Since they waited until 4:30pm to call us, we had to wait until the next day but we went and picked the information up. It was a detailed sheet about the results of his exams, stating the size of the hole in his heart before the surgery and after, and it had notes stating the surgeon was pleased with the results. "Great!" we thought. This HAS to be what they want. The GP informed us that they did indeed e-mail it to Knightsbridge and we were all set, we took our copy and went on our way. (Spoiler alert: they didn't e-mail it.) However, me being as paranoid as I am, called Knightsbridge to confirm they received the e-mail from the GP - Surprise surprise, they hadn't. It was now the day before his interview. We say F*** it we're going to make sure that it gets there, we're going to be in London anyway so we'll drop it off in person.

 

So the day of his interview rolls around and everything is smooth sailing! He's Approved!!.. pending the results of his missing medical exam.

Off again to Knightsbridge. This was straightforward, they took it and his case # and told us if they needed more information they would be in touch within 3 business days. Great, we left and had Pizza Express for lunch, thinking that everything was smooth sailing from here on out, oh how I envy the naivety I possessed that day.

According to Knightsbridge, the 3 business days begin starting the next day - despite the fact that we dropped the paper off in the morning. But we're understanding people, so whatever, that's fine. Anyway, Monday rolls around.. around noon we get a phone call that the paper we gave them wasn't enough. Frustrated at this point, Tony demands, over the phone, to know EXACTLY what they're looking for so we can get it to them. "Discharge Papers." Okay, inconvenient, but fine. We'll get them to you as soon as we can. We go to his GP immediately after the call and ask for a copy of the discharge papers.. leave being told it could take a few days. We get a call two days later, on Wednesday that what we wanted was available for pick up. They handed us EVERY SINGLE PAGE of his medical record, which we had to comb through to find the note that said "Hospital correspondence 12/2/2009"... That HAD  to be the discharge notes. Thankfully, they printed it up right then. We go home, scan them in and send the entire discharge letter, notes and all, including the page they had already received and send it off. We receive a confirmation email "3 business days and we'll contact you directly if we need more information." Great. This HAS to be everything, this has to be the end of it.. right?

 

Wrong.

 

Friday afternoon, I'm back in the US at this point, as I had to leave without him to get back to work... at 4:30pm he received a call from Knightsbridge. Because of "questionable wording" on the discharge papers, they now needed more information. 

A bit of background, when he was 19 he was out celebrating a birthday with his friends and they were doing jagerbombs.. the ones mixed with Redbull. He had had a few, and because of the heart defect (that he didn't know he had), an excess of caffeine and alcohol, his heart stopped for about 30 seconds, he passed out and they took him to the hospital. Thus, the discharge notes said something along the lines of "After a bout of drinking, the patient was admitted with an arrhythmia where it was discovered that he had an ASD." (Side note- the Arrhythmia was because of the ASD... not because of the alcohol, before he got it repaired his resting heartbeat was about 120 all of the time.. yet no one ever caught it before - HOW? I don't know)

Now Knightsbridge was calling, and they wanted proof that he wasn't or isn't alcoholic and doesn't have any sort of "problem or dependency." They waited until 4:30pm on a Friday to call, which meant that nothing could be done until Monday morning.

He went to his GP first thing Monday morning.. they were just as tired of seeing him as he was of seeing them. They put an ASAP on it and called Wednesday morning (Nov. 7th), where it cost him £15 to pick it up. He immediately e-mailed it to Knightsbridge and we received the same "3 business days and we''ll call if we need something."

 

Thankfully, it's been more than 3 business days and we have yet to hear anything. I'm hoping that this nightmare is finally over and we can just move on and he can finally come. Moral of the story - cover all of your bases. If you think something might not be a big deal, get something for it just in case. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. We would have had the information before the medical but his GP wouldn't give it to us without that letter from Knighstbridge.. so I guess it is what it is, but a month and a half from his original medical and we're just now reaching the end. 

 

As of right now our case is still in "administrative processing" and the last day it was touched was October 25th. Here's to hoping the embassy will hurry up and issue it as soon as they receive it so he can get his butt over here!!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

 

 

3 hours ago, ADAngel said:

We spent the next two weeks getting together everything he would need, t

But you didn't get a write up about the heart surgery? They specifically say on their website "Copies of GP/specialist reports, if available, for any significant medical conditions, including all psychiatric."

 

3 hours ago, ADAngel said:

We wait a bit longer, they inform us we missed a vaccination (Tetanus, but we can get it in the US before AOS). 

So in all these trips back to the GP, did you get the Td shot needed so you could be signed off by Knightsbridge for AOS on vaccinations?  

 

 

[rrobin0609 387]

We had a similar back and forth with my now husband's GP and Knightsbridge, though yours sounds like its been a lot more annoying.

 

He had his medical at the end of August. Prior to it, he went to his GP and signed his medical release to share his EMR with Knightsbridge, which I believe Knightsbridge ignored and decided they didn't need access to. I'm calling that a mistake on their end as they could have gotten up to date information as data into the record was added. 

 

Everything at the appointment was fine, but they said his blood pressure was abnormally high. They wanted him to go to his GP and see if it was a one-off. It was not a one-off. His GP immediately prescribed medication and wanted a follow up appointment about a few days later and then they said they would send their write up to Knightsbridge. At his follow up, the GP told him to come back in another week for a secondary follow up. At the next appointment he was told to come back in a week, lose weight in that week, and then he'd do his write up for Knightsbridge. The following week, also the week of his interview, he called to make an appointment and the physician was out of the office on vacation. The Monday after his interview, he went back, did his follow up, got the write up. His GP never ended up sending it though. He ended up scanning it all and sending it to them. Additionally the week before his interview, Knightsbridge sent him a reminder email about them needing this information to pass on to the embassy.

[ADAngel 40]

25 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

But you didn't get a write up about the heart surgery? They specifically say on their website "Copies of GP/specialist reports, if available, for any significant medical conditions, including all psychiatric."

I'm aware of what their website says, and believe it or not I'm not an idiot. I didn't include it in my post because my post is specifically about Knightsbridge but yes, we did try to get more information about the surgery and they wouldn't give us any without an "official" request. His GP is an absolute mess. We even went to the hospital where he had the surgery and they said, sure we could request it with out an official request from a GP but it would take a minimum of a month, more likely 2 or 3 to get what we needed. We got our NOA2 way faster than expected so by the time we were getting everything together we wouldn't have had time to get it all this way. Yeah would have been great if his GP would have just written something up for us but you can't even talk to his GP directly (not through a receptionist) unless you have a phone appointment or regular appointment, which were 2 and 4 weeks out respectively. YES we did schedule a phone appointment.. they never called but said that they did and we were out of luck.

 

28 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

So in all these trips back to the GP, did you get the Td shot needed so you could be signed off by Knightsbridge for AOS on vaccinations?

No we didn't, because as I said above, you have to have an appointment and the closest one was 4 weeks out last time we checked so we're just getting it here.

[ADAngel 40]

14 minutes ago, rrobin0609 said:

We had a similar back and forth with my now husband's GP and Knightsbridge, though yours sounds like its been a lot more annoying.

 

He had his medical at the end of August. Prior to it, he went to his GP and signed his medical release to share his EMR with Knightsbridge, which I believe Knightsbridge ignored and decided they didn't need access to. I'm calling that a mistake on their end as they could have gotten up to date information as data into the record was added. 

 

Everything at the appointment was fine, but they said his blood pressure was abnormally high. They wanted him to go to his GP and see if it was a one-off. It was not a one-off. His GP immediately prescribed medication and wanted a follow up appointment about a few days later and then they said they would send their write up to Knightsbridge. At his follow up, the GP told him to come back in another week for a secondary follow up. At the next appointment he was told to come back in a week, lose weight in that week, and then he'd do his write up for Knightsbridge. The following week, also the week of his interview, he called to make an appointment and the physician was out of the office on vacation. The Monday after his interview, he went back, did his follow up, got the write up. His GP never ended up sending it though. He ended up scanning it all and sending it to them. Additionally the week before his interview, Knightsbridge sent him a reminder email about them needing this information to pass on to the embassy.

Ugh, that sounds really frustrating! I hope everything worked out. How long did it take for your visa to be approved after they received everything from Knightsbridge?

[rrobin0609 387]

6 minutes ago, ADAngel said:

Ugh, that sounds really frustrating! I hope everything worked out. How long did it take for your visa to be approved after they received everything from Knightsbridge?

His interview was September 13. His last appointment was September 17. The visa updated to Ready on September 24. His visa arrived on October 1 and he had booked tickets before I had even woken up for the day and flew out on October 2.

[RoshwedsDar 1]

Hi 

 

I was in a similar situation (in terms of delayed medical). 

 

I am pregnant and 16 weeks at time of medical on September 14th. Attended the medical, thought everything was fine but they couldn’t see everything they needed on the Chest X-ray and had to pay for a private ultrasound (multiple X-rays not recommended). It took almost two weeks (27th October) to find a doctor to perform the Ultrasound and daily calls to visa Medicals asking for an update. Once the ultrasound has been performed it took another week for my medical to be sent to the embassy.

 

Had my interview on the 9th October, my medical wasn’t there, despite being told it had been sent the previous week (there was a bank holiday on the 8th October). 

 

Spoke to Visa Medicals, they informed me the Medical had been received as of 11th October. 

 

Timelines

9th October - Interview was successful told I was approved , was told Medical wasn’t there and visa would be issued once it was received.

9th October - Changed from Ready to Application Processing (Immigrant Visa)

11th October - Visa Medicals confirmed the medical had been received by the US embassy

12th October - Changed from Application Processing to Ready (Immigrant Visa) 

15th October - Changed from Ready to Application Processing (Immigrant Visa)

25th October - Still Application Processing however changed from Immigrant to Non Immigration Visa

31st October - Changed from Application Processing to Issued

2nd November - Email received with courrier tracking details 

5th November - Passport Received

14th November- POE at JKF T7. Handed over my passport and envelope, was asked how I met my fiancé, then taken into a side room at immigration, kept there for 5 mins, asked when I was getting married then given back my passport. 

 

Myself and my family had flights booked (to attend my wedding) following the medical as I thought everything was ok.

 

During the dreaded Application Processing  stage I emailed the UK embassy to ask if they had received my medical, they said yes but provided no further details on timelines for approval. I also emailed to ask about how I go about receiving my Passport back during the Application Processing stage (as my family were travelling for the wedding), they never got back to me in that query as my visa was approved a day or two after I sent the email.

 

Whilst everything worked out Ok in the end, my advice is to be cautious about booking anything prior to receiving tour passport. I had two months between my medical and POE, and it took almost all of that time to receive my passport back. 

 

 

Hope this helps 

 

[yuna628 9,680]

I feel for you OP, and unfortunately when you have had a history of a more serious physical or mental condition you have to make sure you come armed with everything you possibly can. It also is understandable your frustration here... I'm constantly bewildered by crazy stories from the UK of persons trying to obtain their own medical history (something that is fairly straightforward to get in the US). I'm sure that once the medical is sent along to the embassy you should likely get movement in a couple weeks. Keep in mind things do get slower there around the holidays though (and do not count weekends either). The only issue I see for you is that you did not get your tetanus before the medical or during the medical (did Knightsbridge not offer to do it, or did they just fob him off?). So you'll then need to get it either before he leaves or stateside, and go to a USC civil surgeon to recertify the vaccinations for AOS purposes. That will be an additional expense for you as well as a lot of time trying to find a civil surgeon that understands the rules and doesn't want to cheat you.

 

You could attempt to call Knightsbridge in order to follow up that they have sent it along.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

I want to add that anybody reading this prior to NOA2 needs to learn:

• Trying to gather medical information from NHS in two weeks is unlikely to be complete, especially if you need a report written by your doctor. NHS is s-l-o-w.
• You can start getting your shot records and shots months before your NOA2. Not getting all shots needed before the visa exam is going to cost you more money to see a civil surgeon in the US and most likely another medical exam.  
• Same for your health summary and a special write up of any surgeries, significant illnesses, ongoing conditions, etc. Start before NOA2.
• If alcohol or drugs are mentioned anywhere in your questionnaire, health summary, police report, or written report from you GP, you've opened further scrutinty in the mental health section of the exam which includes addictions and abuse.
• Rushing to get that medical exam and interview set as soon as NVC gives out a number has backfired on so many people. They end up frustrated and delayed because everything was not in order on interview day to keep the case moving forward to have a visa in hand in 7 days. 

Edited November 15, 2018 by Wuozopo

[Soph97 33]

What a nightmare!!

 

i also didn’t get my tetanus until I arrived in the states. I got it done once we were married (2 days after arriving to NY) and had health insurance. The shot was covered on insurance (flu was also), however I did have to see a USCIS doctor again so he could fill in the vaccination paperwork. This cost around $80. 

[ADAngel 40]

6 hours ago, RoshwedsDar said:

Hi 

 

I was in a similar situation (in terms of delayed medical). 

 

I am pregnant and 16 weeks at time of medical on September 14th. Attended the medical, thought everything was fine but they couldn’t see everything they needed on the Chest X-ray and had to pay for a private ultrasound (multiple X-rays not recommended). It took almost two weeks (27th October) to find a doctor to perform the Ultrasound and daily calls to visa Medicals asking for an update. Once the ultrasound has been performed it took another week for my medical to be sent to the embassy.

 

Had my interview on the 9th October, my medical wasn’t there, despite being told it had been sent the previous week (there was a bank holiday on the 8th October). 

 

Spoke to Visa Medicals, they informed me the Medical had been received as of 11th October. 

 

Timelines

9th October - Interview was successful told I was approved , was told Medical wasn’t there and visa would be issued once it was received.

9th October - Changed from Ready to Application Processing (Immigrant Visa)

11th October - Visa Medicals confirmed the medical had been received by the US embassy

12th October - Changed from Application Processing to Ready (Immigrant Visa) 

15th October - Changed from Ready to Application Processing (Immigrant Visa)

25th October - Still Application Processing however changed from Immigrant to Non Immigration Visa

31st October - Changed from Application Processing to Issued

2nd November - Email received with courrier tracking details 

5th November - Passport Received

14th November- POE at JKF T7. Handed over my passport and envelope, was asked how I met my fiancé, then taken into a side room at immigration, kept there for 5 mins, asked when I was getting married then given back my passport. 

 

Myself and my family had flights booked (to attend my wedding) following the medical as I thought everything was ok.

 

During the dreaded Application Processing  stage I emailed the UK embassy to ask if they had received my medical, they said yes but provided no further details on timelines for approval. I also emailed to ask about how I go about receiving my Passport back during the Application Processing stage (as my family were travelling for the wedding), they never got back to me in that query as my visa was approved a day or two after I sent the email.

 

Whilst everything worked out Ok in the end, my advice is to be cautious about booking anything prior to receiving tour passport. I had two months between my medical and POE, and it took almost all of that time to receive my passport back. 

 

 

Hope this helps 

 

I'm sorry it took so long in AP! Hoping ours doesn't take that long his Grandma is flying over for Christmas on the 19th and it would be really shitty if he wasn't even here yet..

We haven't booked anything yet and I won't until it changes to "issued"

At least you're finally here! Congratulations!

[ADAngel 40]

3 hours ago, yuna628 said:

The only issue I see for you is that you did not get your tetanus before the medical or during the medical (did Knightsbridge not offer to do it, or did they just fob him off?)

Yeah they didn't offer to give it to him, just told us he wouldn't have to worry about it until AOS. Which we probably should've pushed it but he had had two vaccs that week and was done with it!

 

3 hours ago, yuna628 said:

'm sure that once the medical is sent along to the embassy you should likely get movement in a couple weeks. Keep in mind things do get slower there around the holidays though (and do not count weekends either).

Yeah, we haven't been counting weekends... I'm seriously so over all of this, honestly. I think it was the fact that they needed more info about him not being an alcoholic that just pushed me over the edge. Hoping this will just be over with soon. I've stopped setting like "well hopefully he'll be here by this date" because it just ends in disappointment.

 

3 hours ago, yuna628 said:

I feel for you OP, and unfortunately when you have had a history of a more serious physical or mental condition you have to make sure you come armed with everything you possibly can. It also is understandable your frustration here... I'm constantly bewildered by crazy stories from the UK of persons trying to obtain their own medical history (something that is fairly straightforward to get in the US). 

Thank you for being understanding. I know it's easy to write someone off as being unprepared or lazy but we've had such a rough 6 months we've had 0 time to focus on anything but making sure we had a roof over our heads. I won't go into details but we were living in the UK together and the universe was just shitting all over us for 6 months straight, haha. (Yes, I have a great co-sponsor so my ####### finances won't affect anything) When we did get his NOA2 we tried to refocus on the visa but his GP wouldn't give us anything without another doctor issuing an official request and the hospital where he had the surgery said it would take 30 days just to process the request and we still probably wouldn't get the results he needed for another month or two. So while it's been crazy and annoying I think it's probably gone the best it could've gone considering the circumstances. We were able to get the records with Knightsbridge's request without having to pay except the £15 needed for the last paper. 

[ADAngel 40]

1 hour ago, Soph97 said:

What a nightmare!!

 

i also didn’t get my tetanus until I arrived in the states. I got it done once we were married (2 days after arriving to NY) and had health insurance. The shot was covered on insurance (flu was also), however I did have to see a USCIS doctor again so he could fill in the vaccination paperwork. This cost around $80. 

It's been so frustrating!

That's a lot better than I was expecting so that's great! Thank for the reassurance  We would have had to pay for it at his GP and at Knighstbridge so I'm honestly not that bothered by having to do it over here. He won't be covered under my insurance but the vaccine is only $70 at CVS.

Edit: It's only $50 at Walgreens 

Edited November 15, 2018 by ADAngel

[thatguyuknow 147]

I hope everything goes well for the both of you.

 

See Visa doctors, I just don't get it. When you look at INA 212 they're only interested in:

1.Vaccinations

2. Having a communicable disease

3. Mental disorder and behavior associated with the disorder

4. Drug abuser or addict

 

I just don't understand that if you're condition is not listed in the 4 above categories how they can bust your balls, hopefully someone will correct me.

Edited November 16, 2018 by thatguyuknow

[Wuozopo 4,293]

4 hours ago, thatguyuknow said:

I hope everything goes well for the both of you.

 

See Visa doctors, I just don't get it. When you look at INA 212 they're only interested in:

1.Vaccinations

2. Having a communicable disease

3. Mental disorder and behavior associated with the disorder

4. Drug abuser or addict

 

I just don't understand that if you're condition is not listed in the 4 above categories how they can bust your balls, hopefully someone will correct me.

 

From the USCIS Policy Manual:

B.  Class A and B Conditions and Their Impact on Admissibility

 

Class A and B conditions are defined in Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)regulations. [1] 

 

Class A conditions are medical conditions that render a person inadmissible and ineligible for a visa or adjustment of status. [2] A Class A medical condition is a:

 

•Communicable disease of public health significance per HHS regulation;

•A failure to present documentation of having received vaccinations against vaccine-preventable diseases; [3] 

 

•Present or past physical or mental disorder with associated harmful behavior or harmful behavior that is likely to recur; and

•Drug abuse or addiction.

 

Class B conditions are defined as physical or mental health conditions, diseases, or disability serious in degree or permanent in nature. [4] This may be a medical condition that, although not rendering an applicant inadmissible, represents a departure from normal health or well-being that may be significant enough to:

 

•Interfere with the applicant’s ability to care for himself or herself, to attend school, or to work; or

•Require extensive medical treatment or institutionalization in the future.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Wuozopo