K1 Medical and history of depression! Advice welcome!

[DJClaire 134]

Hello!

 

I am a May 2018 filer with my NOA 2, just awaiting my NVC case number.  I hope to schedule my medical and interview in London in January/early February.

 

I need some sound advice for the medical, which is the part of this process I am most nervous about! I have just been to my local doctors and they have printed off a four page Patient Summary for me. It looks perfect and has nothing untoward on it. It goes back as far as 1999 (I was born in 1977) and includes immunisations, smear tests, a back X Ray from years ago, a full blood count from 2016 and a couple of X Rays. Is this the correct report that I need for the medical in London? The top of the sheet says Report Path: Local Record.  I need to make sure this is adequate as it does not have any reference to my mental health, as I have been treated for depression seven years ago.

 

I have all my immunisations in place for the AOS, which is a mix of scanned paper records and a print out from my GP.

 

I have downloaded and read through the medical questionnaire and I am unsure of how to answer some of the questions.  I appreciate that honesty is the best policy but with my patient summary sheet looking so normal, I loathe to muddy the water and complicate the process.  Has anyone declared depression? Hospitalisation? And what about drugs? Any advice would be greatly appreciated by people who have gone through this process in similar circumstances. PM me if you can help me in private. 

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

[Ethan & Shannon 385]

Hi, I'm not going through the London embassy so I can't comment on whether you have the correct summary. However, I've read about people from London getting their doctor to write a letter to provide information that you have had depression, when it was, how you were treated for it, and that you're not a harm to yourself or others, nor are you likely to be in the future. I don't know if it's required.

 

Sorry I can't provide a better answer than this, hopefully someone from London can .

[DJClaire 134]

Just now, Ethan & Shannon said:

Hi, I'm not going through the London embassy so I can't comment on whether you have the correct summary. However, I've read about people from London getting their doctor to write a letter to provide information that you have had depression, when it was, how you were treated for it, and that you're not a harm to yourself or others, nor are you likely to be in the future. I don't know if it's required.

 

Sorry I can't provide a better answer than this, hopefully someone from London can .

Thank you, I will be requesting this from my GP this week. 

 

[Wuozopo 4,285]

 

There are a number of threads in the UK FORUM which discuss this topic from pre-nerves to preparation to exam experiences and are specific to your clinic in London. Start going through posts.

[KristenJ 29]

Request a full medical report; the summary may not be enough in your case. Get your hands on any and all records possible from anywhere possible. Start getting the documentation now. Don't wait and don't believe anyone who tells you that the summary will be enough. Every case is unique and the more documentation you have the better. If you can get a GP to write a letter stating that you are "no harm to self or others" that seems to be the recurring theme of what they want. However, we weren't able to get a GP to sign off on anything, basically just wrote "no comment" and that coupled with 26 pages of documents and an addendum we wrote ourselves was sufficient. However, we had to wait an additional 5 weeks because we didn't realize that Knightsbridge would request additional info based on the summary and the GP office was slow as molasses. We wish we would have started getting all previous medical records much sooner.

 

FYI: The Visa Medicals consent form they give you when they request more info from your GP states:

-"You can ask the doctor to change any part of the report you consider to be inaccurate or misleading."

-"If the doctor declines to change the report, you can attach a written statement giving your views on its contents."

 

Best of luck to you.

[DJClaire 134]

9 minutes ago, KristenJ said:

Request a full medical report; the summary may not be enough in your case. Get your hands on any and all records possible from anywhere possible. Start getting the documentation now. Don't wait and don't believe anyone who tells you that the summary will be enough. Every case is unique and the more documentation you have the better. If you can get a GP to write a letter stating that you are "no harm to self or others" that seems to be the recurring theme of what they want. However, we weren't able to get a GP to sign off on anything, basically just wrote "no comment" and that coupled with 26 pages of documents and an addendum we wrote ourselves was sufficient. However, we had to wait an additional 5 weeks because we didn't realize that Knightsbridge would request additional info based on the summary and the GP office was slow as molasses. We wish we would have started getting all previous medical records much sooner.

 

FYI: The Visa Medicals consent form they give you when they request more info from your GP states:

-"You can ask the doctor to change any part of the report you consider to be inaccurate or misleading."

-"If the doctor declines to change the report, you can attach a written statement giving your views on its contents."

 

Best of luck to you.

Thank you for this, it is very helpful. I will request the full medical notes and arrange an appointment to pop in and ask for the all important letter. Much appreciated. 

 

Out of curiosity, did you have to pay the additional £350 and have a full psych eval?

 

[KristenJ 29]

No, we weren't aware of any £350 psych evaluation. We did have to pay £60 to get the full medical records and a letter from the GP though. From the records, I believe the full story was clear to Knightsbridge, even though the GP's letter was completely unhelpful.  My fiancee actually has never met that GP and it seemed that he didn't even look at the 26 pages of records, calling the information he had "scanty" which would have been laughable if it weren't so infuriating. Best advice I can give is get your hands of any and all documentation asap.

[DJClaire 134]

4 minutes ago, KristenJ said:

No, we weren't aware of any £350 psych evaluation. We did have to pay £60 to get the full medical records and a letter from the GP though. From the records, I believe the full story was clear to Knightsbridge, even though the GP's letter was completely unhelpful.  My fiancee actually has never met that GP and it seemed that he didn't even look at the 26 pages of records, calling the information he had "scanty" which would have been laughable if it weren't so infuriating. Best advice I can give is get your hands of any and all documentation asap.

Thank you so much for this information. So to be clear, you took your FULL medical records and a letter and they were still not able to pass your medical on the day?  I have just contacted three different service providers and I will pay for the full notes from each one. I suspect it will be more than 26 pages somehow!

 

[KristenJ 29]

When we went to Knightsbridge on Oct 2nd, we only had the summary. They said this wasn't enough and gave us another letter to pass to the GP. We did that On Oct 3rd, paid £60 for full medical reports and a letter from the GP but didn't receive the info back til Nov 5th. We rang up many times throughout that period but the GP didn't write the letter til Nov 2nd. We received that letter back with additional letters and reports amounting to 26 pages. That is what was sent back to Knightsbridge and was approved and sent to the embassy on Nov 15th. All this waiting around and ringing up and wasting time when we could have just requested all documentation beforehand. Unfortunately, we took some bad advice over the phone that "the summary should be good enough." It was not. I think you're doing the best thing you can do by getting all your records from your various service providers. It should paint a full picture of your history and you can use it to present your case from your perspective; you're more than a diagnosis typed on a page. We put together a 2-page summary ourselves using quotes from reports and letters which portrayed the reality of the situation and history. I hope this helps. In the end, you and your fiance are your own best advocates, as medical providers don't have the time or energy to devote to ensuring that your case moves forward. Best of luck again and let me know if you have any other questions I can help answer.

[DJClaire 134]

8 hours ago, KristenJ said:

When we went to Knightsbridge on Oct 2nd, we only had the summary. They said this wasn't enough and gave us another letter to pass to the GP. We did that On Oct 3rd, paid £60 for full medical reports and a letter from the GP but didn't receive the info back til Nov 5th. We rang up many times throughout that period but the GP didn't write the letter til Nov 2nd. We received that letter back with additional letters and reports amounting to 26 pages. That is what was sent back to Knightsbridge and was approved and sent to the embassy on Nov 15th. All this waiting around and ringing up and wasting time when we could have just requested all documentation beforehand. Unfortunately, we took some bad advice over the phone that "the summary should be good enough." It was not. I think you're doing the best thing you can do by getting all your records from your various service providers. It should paint a full picture of your history and you can use it to present your case from your perspective; you're more than a diagnosis typed on a page. We put together a 2-page summary ourselves using quotes from reports and letters which portrayed the reality of the situation and history. I hope this helps. In the end, you and your fiance are your own best advocates, as medical providers don't have the time or energy to devote to ensuring that your case moves forward. Best of luck again and let me know if you have any other questions I can help answer.

This is super helpful. I will PM you now. 

 

[K & R 343]

My husband had his medical at Knightsbridge for the K-1 (Hes now a GC holder here). I would make sure you have the full medical report and not just a summary. My husband brought the full medical report and had no issues. He also had depression in his past and opted for the psych eval because his GP was not willing to write an in depth letter stating he was fine (not because he didn’t believe he was fine but because he literally couldn’t get an appointment with the GP to have it done!! 😡) so the GP just referred us for the psych eval and my husband was able to get an appointment much quicker.

 

the doctor at the eval was fantastic and wrote a 5 page letter about how my husband is fine. The most important thing though to have them write is that YOU ARE NOT A DANGER TO YOURSELF OR OTHERS. 

 

When my husband had the medical at Knightsbridge they were extremely impressed with the psych eval letter. I think more so then they would have been with just a little note from the GP. I saw someone on here say their GP wrote a 3 sentence note and that that was not enough for the Knightsbridge Doctors. 

 

 

Overall I find it best to be Over prepared. It was worth the £350 in my opinion for us to have a smooth ride through the medical process. Just make sure you do not lie or with hold info. There may not be anything stating you had depression on your medical summary but if their is any record of medication on their for depression you might get some questions. It’s just not worth the setback to lie. Good luck! pm me if you ever need to!!

[geowrian 22,335]

It's not uncommon for an GP to refuse to write those types of words. That's a medical evaluation for which they have not conducted tests and/or are not qualified to evaluate. It's like asking the GP to perform a liver resection...it would be inappropriate for them to do so (and be an improper practice of medicine too). The psych eval doctor is qualified to make that evaluation, though.

[DJClaire 134]

On 11/23/2018 at 12:00 PM, K & R said:

My husband had his medical at Knightsbridge for the K-1 (Hes now a GC holder here). I would make sure you have the full medical report and not just a summary. My husband brought the full medical report and had no issues. He also had depression in his past and opted for the psych eval because his GP was not willing to write an in depth letter stating he was fine (not because he didn’t believe he was fine but because he literally couldn’t get an appointment with the GP to have it done!! 😡) so the GP just referred us for the psych eval and my husband was able to get an appointment much quicker.

 

the doctor at the eval was fantastic and wrote a 5 page letter about how my husband is fine. The most important thing though to have them write is that YOU ARE NOT A DANGER TO YOURSELF OR OTHERS. 

 

When my husband had the medical at Knightsbridge they were extremely impressed with the psych eval letter. I think more so then they would have been with just a little note from the GP. I saw someone on here say their GP wrote a 3 sentence note and that that was not enough for the Knightsbridge Doctors. 

 

 

Overall I find it best to be Over prepared. It was worth the £350 in my opinion for us to have a smooth ride through the medical process. Just make sure you do not lie or with hold info. There may not be anything stating you had depression on your medical summary but if their is any record of medication on their for depression you might get some questions. It’s just not worth the setback to lie. Good luck! pm me if you ever need to!!

This is again really helpful.

 

i have full medical notes and my GP receptionist is trying to get my letter to include those magic words.

 

Can I ask where and how you booked the eval? I’m happy to pay and do this prior to the medical itself for ease but how do I know it’s an acceptable report for the Knightsbridge doc? 

[K & R 343]

2 hours ago, DJClaire said:

This is again really helpful.

 

i have full medical notes and my GP receptionist is trying to get my letter to include those magic words.

 

Can I ask where and how you booked the eval? I’m happy to pay and do this prior to the medical itself for ease but how do I know it’s an acceptable report for the Knightsbridge doc? 

Hey! I’m glad this was helpful! My husband had his eval with Doctor Andreas Schenk in Bournemouth. He was really great and since he did this for my husband he will be familiar with it and what’s needed for Knightsbridge. All my husband needed was for his GP to refer him  and then he called Dr Shenk’s office to make an appointment. The appointment took about an hour and then he had the letter via email a few days later. The doctor also mailed the original copy of the signed letter and that’s what we took to the medical at Knightsbridge. The Knightsbridge doctors were more than satisfied with the five page eval. They still asked my husband some questions but they didn’t ask for anything more of him and like I said his interview at the consulate went smoothly and he was approved with no issues. 

[DJClaire 134]

17 hours ago, K & R said:

Hey! I’m glad this was helpful! My husband had his eval with Doctor Andreas Schenk in Bournemouth. He was really great and since he did this for my husband he will be familiar with it and what’s needed for Knightsbridge. All my husband needed was for his GP to refer him  and then he called Dr Shenk’s office to make an appointment. The appointment took about an hour and then he had the letter via email a few days later. The doctor also mailed the original copy of the signed letter and that’s what we took to the medical at Knightsbridge. The Knightsbridge doctors were more than satisfied with the five page eval. They still asked my husband some questions but they didn’t ask for anything more of him and like I said his interview at the consulate went smoothly and he was approved with no issues. 

No way! Small world! I am from Bournemouth too!