I-693 - What are we Paying For in the Initial Price?

[Ycats 24]

Hello,

 

I was wondering, what is it that we are paying for when we are told the "initial price" of the Immigration Medical? Is this just the cost for the doctor to review our current documents and do all the paper work? Or does this usually include a little bit more except for immunizations? My husband and I are currently "shopping around" for a nice price for the medical. But I just want to be a little more educated on what it is we are paying for in the initial price.

 

The first place just said $220, not including immunizations.

The second place said $150, but bloodwork and immunizations would be between $200-800 extra.

The third place said $200 just to review the documents and included a TB test if needed. But would be an additional $340 for anything else needed.

 

Now of course, I don't expect things to be cheap, I just want to know what I am paying for with the initial price they are mentioning. The offices seemed to avoid that question, so hopefully I can find help from the community!

 

Thank you in advanced!

 

[mushroomspore 3,043]

The physical exam. And for the civil surgeon to sign your paperwork because ordinary docs can't do the I-693.

Edited January 21, 2019 by mushroomspore

[Ycats 24]

2 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

The physical exam. And for the civil surgeon to sign your paperwork because ordinary docs can't do the I-693.

Thank you for the quick reply.

[millefleur 5,035]

As far as I know, it's the price of the physical exam, urine test, blood test and TB x-ray. Immunizations are separate and you can have them done at different clinics if you like, at least this was the case in Russia.

 

Oh, I realized you're talking about AOS, sorry about that. It's probably different from the process we did so ignore if this makes no sense.

Edited January 21, 2019 by millefleur

[Ycats 24]

1 minute ago, millefleur said:

As far as I know, it's the price of the physical exam, urine test, blood test and TB x-ray. Immunizations are separate and you can have them done at different clinics if you like, at least this was the case in Russia.

Thank you thank you!

[millefleur 5,035]

@Ycats just wanted to mention that we did everything abroad as we applied for a CR-1 spouse visa, so it might be different when you are doing AOS here in the States. But that is what was included when we did the medical abroad as required by USCIS, so I would imagine it contains similar tests and requirements but I can't say from experience.

 

Also check out this thread, it might be of interest:

 

 

[dentsflogged 352]

1 hour ago, Ycats said:

Hello,

 

I was wondering, what is it that we are paying for when we are told the "initial price" of the Immigration Medical? Is this just the cost for the doctor to review our current documents and do all the paper work? Or does this usually include a little bit more except for immunizations? My husband and I are currently "shopping around" for a nice price for the medical. But I just want to be a little more educated on what it is we are paying for in the initial price.

 

The first place just said $220, not including immunizations.

The second place said $150, but bloodwork and immunizations would be between $200-800 extra.

The third place said $200 just to review the documents and included a TB test if needed. But would be an additional $340 for anything else needed.

 

Now of course, I don't expect things to be cheap, I just want to know what I am paying for with the initial price they are mentioning. The offices seemed to avoid that question, so hopefully I can find help from the community!

 

Thank you in advanced!

 

First and foremost - get copies of all your immunisation records (if you've had any) and have them translated if they're not already in English.

Secondly - the civil surgeon you book with SHOULD request your records and give orders for tests be done if those records are incomplete or non existent. 

 

I'm AOS from ESTA.  My civil surgeon sent me the requirements that they needed - Vaccination records for TDaP, MMR, Varicella (chicken pox) and a flu shot, as well as proof that I'm not infected with TB, Syphillis or Gonorrhea.  I had (thankfully) had a recent TDaP, Flu shot and MMR vaccinations (my sister in law was having a baby so wanted to make sure I was covered for things that could be very bad news for an infant) but I still needed to get another shot while at my medical for Tetanus/Diptheria which is the protocol for those strains apparently. 

I had my blood drawn at the local clinic for testing for TB, Syphillis and Gonorrhea and they sent the results straight to the civil surgeon. 

 

Because I wasn't able to get all my medical records (we changed GPs when I was about 5 years old and since both my parents are dead, there's no one to as who my original GP was), they took the fact that I'd had Chicken Pox as a child on good faith and I didn't need another shot.

Total cost was around $900 all up - that's blood tests, 1 extra vaccination needle and the actual civil surgeon appointment (which was $330 total just for her time).  

 

Unfortunatley, one of the down sides of AOS from a tourist visa is that you get screwed in a few ways, and having to do the medical under the American health care system is one of them. My husbands insurance didn't cover a single cent of any of the costs except the vaccination - their reasoning is that the blood tests were non-diagnostic so wouldn't fall under standard care and they weren't ordered by a specialist that I'd been referred to via normal methods so there's no "indication that they were medically necessary". 

[millefleur 5,035]

3 hours ago, dentsflogged said:

Total cost was around $900 all up - that's blood tests, 1 extra vaccination needle and the actual civil surgeon appointment (which was $330 total just for her time).  

 

Unfortunatley, one of the down sides of AOS from a tourist visa is that you get screwed in a few ways, and having to do the medical under the American health care system is one of them.

Sheesh... That's good to know for anyone possibly ever considering the idea of doing AOS as opposed to a K-1 or spousal visa. The medical abroad costs around $250 and includes everything except vaccines.

[Lil bear 3,831]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

Sheesh... That's good to know for anyone possibly ever considering the idea of doing AOS as opposed to a K-1 or spousal visa. The medical abroad costs around $250 and includes everything except vaccines.

Australian medical  for IR visa was $450 plus any vaccines .. would have 💕💕💕💕💕 $250 !

[dentsflogged 352]

15 hours ago, millefleur said:

Sheesh... That's good to know for anyone possibly ever considering the idea of doing AOS as opposed to a K-1 or spousal visa. The medical abroad costs around $250 and includes everything except vaccines.

We were in the process of K1 before circumstances changed dramatically.   I'd already priced up the cost of medical in Australia and it was going to be close to $650 for me, taking into account the fact I'd be missing a day of work (I used all my paid leave up spending time with my husband) and the cost of getting to/from the appointment (I didn't have a car so it would have been 2 PT changes taking over 90 minutes or a $50 uber in each direction) so the price really isn't that much higher.

 

At the end of the day it is what it is.  We didn't plan to AOS in this way so the extra cost is one of the pitfalls of it - it's still outweighed by the fact that I can be here to support my husband while his only living parent goes through cancer treatment, and help my mother in law out by being there to cook/clean around the house and actually get to know her properly. 

[eckoin 211]

Wow @dentsflogged, it kind of sounds like a rip off... You had a TDAP and they made you do another TDAP? Those are like $30-50 at a local pharmacy. And TB, syphylis, and gonorrhea basically amounted to $400-500? That's insane. 

 

My civil sergeon charged $280 all in, told me to get vaccinations at a CVS down the road. Although I did have my pregnancy bloodwork which probably included syphilis and gonorrhea, so maybe that was it. I do remember paying $900 for those tests, a dozen or so. 

 

[dentsflogged 352]

18 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Wow @dentsflogged, it kind of sounds like a rip off... You had a TDAP and they made you do another TDAP? Those are like $30-50 at a local pharmacy. And TB, syphylis, and gonorrhea basically amounted to $400-500? That's insane. 

 

My civil sergeon charged $280 all in, told me to get vaccinations at a CVS down the road. Although I did have my pregnancy bloodwork which probably included syphilis and gonorrhea, so maybe that was it. I do remember paying $900 for those tests, a dozen or so. 

 

I had TDaP in Australia in October and got a combined Tetanus & Diptheria one here in the US because apparently (?) the protocol is that if it's been more than 10 years since your last TDaP shot, you'd have a booster for T&D within a few months.   My last TDaP shot before the one I got in October was sometime in around 2002 after I cut myself on a nail, so it was like a "fresh" immunisation in 2018, not a continuing cover shot. 

I think the breakdown in total was something like: 

$320ish for Civil Surgeon.  Now that I think about it, the lady preparing the bill actually said that they threw in the TD shot for free as an "uninsured discount" on the total bill because I was paying out of pocket. 
$390 for blood draw/Syphillis/Gonnorhea tests (done in my hometown)
$190ish for blood draw/TB test (done at the hospital where my Civil Surgeon was, because my local clinic doesn't test for that since it has to be sent off to another lab and they don't have the transport agreements for that) 

I think the main issue with the costs I paid is that for the blood test there was only one place I could go to get it done - no competition = they can charge what they like.   The next closest place I can go for a blood draw is 35 miles away and I'm not comfortable driving in the winter alone yet, so I just went with the closest option (walking distance from home). 

[junkmart 320]

22 hours ago, Ycats said:

Hello,

 

I was wondering, what is it that we are paying for when we are told the "initial price" of the Immigration Medical? Is this just the cost for the doctor to review our current documents and do all the paper work? Or does this usually include a little bit more except for immunizations? My husband and I are currently "shopping around" for a nice price for the medical. But I just want to be a little more educated on what it is we are paying for in the initial price.

 

The first place just said $220, not including immunizations.

The second place said $150, but bloodwork and immunizations would be between $200-800 extra.

The third place said $200 just to review the documents and included a TB test if needed. But would be an additional $340 for anything else needed.

 

Now of course, I don't expect things to be cheap, I just want to know what I am paying for with the initial price they are mentioning. The offices seemed to avoid that question, so hopefully I can find help from the community!

 

Thank you in advanced!

 

It depends on the office, as you have already found out. They may charge whatever they like.

 

At the first place you called, it sounds like the $220 covers the blood test, urine test, physical exam, and having the CS complete the I-693 and sign it.

 

At the second place you call, it sounds like the $150 covers the physical exam and having the CS complete the I-693 and sign it. The blood test (required) and urine test (required) will cost extra. Plus, if you need any vaccines those are extra. And if any of your bloodwork comes back needing further testing, then that is extra too.

 

I won't continue, as I'm sure you get the picture.