Knightsbridge Medical experience

[Sweetdreaming 397]

Firstly, I should say that providing you have no major medical issues, this is really a painless "check up" more than anything else.

 

I arrived on time and handed over my medical history, vaccination history (had a small card from when i was a child), medical questionnaire, passport,  letter from embassy, copy of ACRO, medical questionnaire and the 4 "passport" photos. They took copies and held onto my passport. 

I was then handed a cup for my urine sample, which I filled in the small 1 person toilet opposite.

Handed over my sample and then was given a further medical questionnaire to fill in the waiting room, pretty much covers the same as the original questionnaire but adds if you have had chickenpox in the past. There are a few more illnesses it asks if you have had. they seemed to be more of the "serious" type so I doubt they would be relevant to most.

I handed back my questionnaire and about 5 minutes later I was called in for

 

Room 1 - my x ray, shirt off, stand close to the scanner for about 30 seconds and done and wait for the Dr to verify the scan was processed properly, probably in the room 4-5 minutes if that.

Shirt on, back to the waiting room for a few minutes and then called in for

 

Room 2 - my "physical"  which consisted of - reading an eye chart covering one eye, then the other. Then take off shirt again and lay on the bench, the doctor checked inside my mouth, ears, then checked around my neck area with his hands i believe this is lymph nodes check. He checked my breathing with his stethoscope to my back, deep breaths in and out, then a check of my heartbeat. Then finally he took a blood sample from my forearm, a small pr1ck (cant post the word pr1ck on this forum apparently!) but not what i would consider painful. Then that was done, no need for height, weight or feet checks that i have seen others mention. I know I filled in height and weight on my original medical questionnaire so maybe they accepted that as it seemed accurate, or they dont actually care about this, who knows ? I was in that room for maybe 10 minutes tops.

Shirt back on, then back to the waiting room for 5-10 minutes and called in for

 

Room 3 - Nurse and vaccinations, the nurse will look over your vaccination history, if you are up to date and can provide the relevant documentation I`m sure they sign off on it there and then. I hadnt had my vaccinations yet and wanted them done there to make sure they were recorded as I dont want to mess around with it going forward. The nurse seemed to be pushing for me to do it offsite for some reason .. maybe they're low on stocks on something, I dont know. Regardless, I told her I wanted it done there so it could all be recorded and verified, which she was happy to do. Had to remove my shirt again as the vaccinations go into the upper arm, I was then given my MMR (1st dose, informed I should get the 2nd dose in 4 weeks but I think for visa reasons im done but I should get the 2nd dose for my own health) and Td booster - both were pretty painless and only noticed a small pr1ck feeling - nothing to worry about here ! I informed the nurse I had chickenpox as a child so didnt require Varicella (not even sure if they offer this?) and no flu shot as its out of season. If you have had your vaccinations already Id guess this would be a very fast process of maybe 5 minutes, because I needed the vaccinations it took about 10-15 minutes.

 

Then it was back to the waiting room for a few minutes while they put together my report,  I was called to the front desk, was handed my reports + passport and paid £330 for the medical itself and £90 for the vaccinations (£50 MMR and £40 Td) which is pretty competitive compared to other places like Boots unless you can get them free on NHS. So £420 all in.

 

As others have stated, its a pretty easy experience, no problems at all, only ever removed my shirt the 3 times I mentioned, didnt even have to remove my shoes ! Was there for around an hour overall, about 50% of that is in the waiting room.

 

Any questions feel free to ask.

Edited April 10, 2019 by skjourney

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

Just surprised they didn't ask if you ever had measles as right now in the US we are having serious issues with measles and lack of persons getting vaccines for their children 

one area of a state is banning anyone not having this vaccine from public areas 

so,  sounds like you are good to go for the interview 

best to you

[Sweetdreaming 397]

Thank you! Yeah measles is not on the list of vaccines required, but who knows it could be added at some stage.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, skjourney said:

I hadnt had my vaccinations yet and wanted them done there to make sure they were recorded as I dont want to mess around with it going forward. The nurse seemed to be pushing for me to do it offsite for some reason .. maybe they're low on stocks on something, I dont know. Regardless, I told her I wanted it done there so it could all be recorded and verified, which she was happy to do

 

👍

The clinic is notorious for pushing K1s to skip the shots and go back to their GP. Many fall for that. What the nurse doesn't know or doesn't tell them is---

• Once you leave the visa exam without all shots, you've lost your chance to be signed off for AOS.
• You can't send shot records from your GP in the AOS application. A new doctor in the US (civil surgeon) has to sign off on Form I-693.
• Civil surgeons can charge anything they want.
• Many Civil surgeons will say you need another full medical exam and won't simply sign off the shot record unless they do an exam, bloodwork and a TB skin test. $$$ 

K1s, get your shots done before you go to the medical or insist for shots on the day. 

Edited April 10, 2019 by Wuozopo

[Wuozopo 4,293]

16 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

Just surprised they didn't ask if you ever had measles as right now in the US we are having serious issues with measles and lack of persons getting vaccines for their children 

one area of a state is banning anyone not having this vaccine from public areas 

so,  sounds like you are good to go for the interview 

best to you

There's no point in asking because they can't take your word for having measles.  The only thing they can accept your word on to get a shot waived is Varicella (chickenpox). That's why they ask for just chickenpox

 

 

7 minutes ago, skjourney said:

Thank you! Yeah measles is not on the list of vaccines required, but who knows it could be added at some stage.

Measles is on the list of vaccines.

MMR=Mumps, Meales, Rubella

[Sweetdreaming 397]

2 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

 

Measles is on the list of vaccines.

MMR=Mumps, Meales, Rubella

Lol duh! It's been a long day!

[Sweetdreaming 397]

10 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

 

👍

The clinic is notorious for pushing K1s to skip the shots and go back to their GP. Many fall for that. 

The question is why would they do this? Surely it's extra income for them?

[yuna628 9,682]

3 minutes ago, skjourney said:

The question is why would they do this? Surely it's extra income for them?

Why do they do it? Honestly don't know... but it's been that way for years. My only conclusion is pure idiocy or lack of staff education, sounds harsh but... anyone going into Knightsbridge needs to be prepared to know the facts about vaccinations and requirements, because you won't get any awareness of the staff.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Just now, skjourney said:

The question is why would they do this? Surely it's extra income for them?

I know, it's kinda crazy. It's like they want to save you some money. They say things like ---K1s don't need to have their shots done before the visa. Go back to your GP and get them free and send that in with your AOS. 

 

It just doesn't work like that. Yes, it's true you can get a visa, but you also get another trip to a clinic (US civil surgeon), a hassle, and a huge bill. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

I had a sensible nurse at Knightsbridge back in 2008. I needed Tdap. She told me to go to my GP and she would hold my medical report until the GP faxed in the shot. I had that done and dusted before my bloodwork even got back from the lab, so no report delay there really. Then she mailed me my copy of the completed DS-3025. What was non-sensible was me wanting to save 25 quid instead of paying Knightsbridge. What was I thinking??🤣😂 

[VanillaCats 12]

I had my medical done on Monday 8th April and it was easy for me too. When is your interview?

Edited April 11, 2019 by VanillaCats

[Sweetdreaming 397]

on the 23rd you ?

[VanillaCats 12]

13 hours ago, skjourney said:

on the 23rd you ?

23rd April? Is that enough time for the medical to arrive at the embassy? I was extra careful because I was told it can take between 1 week to 2 weeks to arrive. Booked mine 7 May.

 

I guess you'll most likely be fine! I was just being cautious and I wanted to fully prepare for it.

Edited April 12, 2019 by VanillaCats

[Sweetdreaming 397]

If its not worst case scenario is that I have my interview and then have to wait a couple weeks for them to verify the medical so not too worried, but im pretty confident theyll have it in time as it will be 1 day short of 2 full weeks.

[ChibiBeckyG 21]

On 4/10/2019 at 6:12 PM, Wuozopo said:

 

👍

The clinic is notorious for pushing K1s to skip the shots and go back to their GP. Many fall for that. What the nurse doesn't know or doesn't tell them is---

• Once you leave the visa exam without all shots, you've lost your chance to be signed off for AOS.
• You can't send shot records from your GP in the AOS application. A new doctor in the US (civil surgeon) has to sign off on Form I-693.
• Civil surgeons can charge anything they want.
• Many Civil surgeons will say you need another full medical exam and won't simply sign off the shot record unless they do an exam, bloodwork and a TB skin test. $$$ 

K1s, get your shots done before you go to the medical or insist for shots on the day. 

This wasn't the case for me - though the Nurse didn't mention the potential complications you mentioned. I'm glad I paid the extra to do it now! 

I went to the medical thinking I had everything, Knightsbridge informed me I had skipped my 10 year top-up on my MMR and Tdap (my GP had never said "hey you need new jabs" despite them knowing I was getting these records for a move to US) and I had a choice of having them then and there or that I could wait because it wasn't really required until AOS. I think she did mention that it really is better to get it done in the UK at least, but I figured that would be the case. 

I assume they push for you to do it away from the surgery because the NHS would do some of these for free or much cheaper at the very least. I can kind of understand that & I did consider it. But I've already paid so much for the medical and to have it incomplete would of been such a bummer. 

I don't like being shoved full of needles, but also figured I was already having one Blood Test anyway and if I'm already having one needle in - then I may as well take 3 so I wasn't spending the coming weeks constantly stressed about the next vaccination.