RFE for "copy of oversea Medical exam and vaccination record"

[Hazelnut 6]

I know, another question about the whole medical exam. 😅 I just want to make sure I am understanding it right. I've read the pinned posts, searched on the forums/googled, but I'm still unsure about this.

 

• I filed for I-485 on January 4, 2019.
• I interviewed on April 8, 2019.
• I received a RFE letter on February 26, 2020.

 

My RFE says the following:

 

"The record shows you have not submitted a copy of your oversea Medical exam and vaccination record.

 

If you do not have a copy of your oversea Medical exam and vaccination record, you must submit the following:

 

[A paragraph about the I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record]"

 

I entered the US on a K1 visa, and I remember reading I didn't need to submit anything as they should already have my medical exam on file (done within a year of applying for AOS). My DS-3025 is filled and completed properly.

 

Do I just need to send a copy of my DS-3025? I did not submit this as part of my I-485 package as I've read it wasn't needed.

[K1visaHopeful 2,844]

It's possible they lost your overseas medical exam.

Was the topic not brought up at your AOS interview?

Also are you sure you filed AOS within 365 days of your overseas medical exam?

Was your DS3025 not marked as complete?

Did you not contact USCIS after your AOS interview? They are supposed to issue it or respond with any required documents within 120 days. 

Why do you think it took so long to send you an RFE after the interview?

The DS3025 is pretty much useless now but you could request an Infopass appointment and ask if your medical packet could not be found.

Edited March 1, 2020 by K1visaHopeful

[Hazelnut 6]

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

It's possible they lost your overseas medical exam.

That's what I fear, especially after reading about cases like this. The more I think about this, the more I think this is what happened.

 

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Was the topic not brought up at your AOS interview?

No. There didn't seem to be anything missing in my packet at the time, as the interviewer did not give me any feedback at the end. It's been a while now, but I do not remember her mentioning they couldn't locate my medical exam. Now I'm thinking they had it at the time, and it got lost during the process somehow.

 

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Also are you sure you filed AOS within 365 days of your overseas medical exam?

Was your DS3025 not marked as complete?

Yes, I did my oversea exam on August 1, 2018.

 

My DS20325 is marked complete: "K Visa applicant voluntarily completed vaccination requirements" is checked, properly signed and dated.

 

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Did you not contact USCIS after your AOS interview? They are supposed to issue it or respond with any required documents within 120 days. 

I contacted them twice. In September, the agent told me it was still considered under normal processing time. He said he sent a request and I would receive news about it to my email within the next 10 business days if there was anything about my case (I never got the email). In December, the agent told me it was still considered under normal processing time but since she couldn't get something to work properly (the system was being weird), she asked for a request to get USCIS to look at my case. I received a letter last month about it, only to be told it's still pending consideration. "[You] believe your case is outside of our normal processing time. [...] We regret that we are not able to give you a time frame for when we will complete the review of your petition."

 

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Why do you think it took so long to send you an RFE after the interview?

I'm wondering about this.

The USCIS office is Baltimore, which I've read is notorious for being slow.

 

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

The DS3025 is pretty much useless now but you could request an Infopass appointment and ask if your medical packet could not be found.

I'm going to try to get clarification regarding this when I call. Unfortunately for us, if I must do the actual appointment in-person, it might not be worth our time as we have moved in September to another state (we used to live in Maryland, we are now in Pennsylvania), and we are now four hours away to the USCIS office that is dealing with our case.

 

On the RFE letter, it states the following: "You must provide the following information in order for us to make a final decision on your case." This is really the last step, and I have until the end of May to submit the information.

 

I remember reading once someone said their change of address somehow triggered a RFE after waiting for so long, and now I'm wondering if getting my renewed EAD/AP card did this as it's within the same timeframe (I actually got my RFE letter and card the same day, although I know it's not like they were sent together or by the same office). Not that it matters, but it's just so odd that it took so long to finally hear back about the case after being told I couldn't be told more.

[Hazelnut 6]

 I called USCIS yesterday and got a callback later that day from a T2 officer. Unfortunately, the call was fruitless. She told me I could send a letter to explain the situation, but I'm not risking this. I understand she couldn't do much about it as she isn't from the actual Baltimore office, but it was still frustrating. I did not get an answer on what happened to my K1 medical package, or if there was anything I could do about it.
 
I'm now going to look into paying for another medical exam. 😞

[K1visaHopeful 2,844]

My comment still stands to request an Infopass at your local field office.

That has helped others before.

You could have requested one on the phone today...

[Fr8dog 312]

Looks like they either lost your document, or the entry envelope has not made it to your file yet (yes, that happens). The DS-3025 normally cures that. In your case I would not just sent that again. Contact them and try to get an infopass at your local office. You are to far along to risk a denial for not providing the correct response to an RFE.

Did they give you a copy of the medical exam when you had it done? Or maybe a sealed envelope? If so bring those with you.

[Hazelnut 6]

16 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

My comment still stands to request an Infopass at your local field office.

That has helped others before.

You could have requested one on the phone today...

I got kinda frustrated with the call, but I'll give this another go. I should've pushed for an actual appointment.

 

1 hour ago, Fr8dog said:

Looks like they either lost your document, or the entry envelope has not made it to your file yet (yes, that happens). The DS-3025 normally cures that. In your case I would not just sent that again. Contact them and try to get an infopass at your local office. You are to far along to risk a denial for not providing the correct response to an RFE.

Did they give you a copy of the medical exam when you had it done? Or maybe a sealed envelope? If so bring those with you.

I'll call the medical office where I had the exam done and see if they can mail me a copy (unlikely, but might as well try).

 

Thank you for your replies; it's giving me the push to go through the InfoPass appointment. I thought I would have to go to Baltimore where our case was handled.

[Hazelnut 6]

I got a callback from a T2 officer today, but she denied my request to schedule an InfoPass appointment. I've asked if it was possible to know where my medical exam is, if it was somehow stuck at POE, if I can put a request to find it, anything really regarding my medical exam; all I was told is that I can write a letter explaining that the documents have already been submitted. I am not feeling it will appropriately answer the RFE and my case will be denied. 😓

[Alekezam 162]

Why go through all the trouble of trying to prove that they may have lost your medicals when you can simply just get a new medical and submit it with the RFE and be done with it?

 

Remember, they (USCIS) holds the power so even if you know you already submitted them and they are still valid according to policy do you honestly think that you'll win that battle? 

 

By now you should already know how inconsistent and unfair the USCIS can be. 

 

Yeah, dropping an extra $250-$300 on something that was not your fault is unfair but you'll have bigger fish to fry down the road if a few hundred dollars is too much to stomach.

 

Take a look at this thread and decide for yourself on your next steps but in my opinion, spend the minimal extra to get a new medical exam avoiding any further delays in your process. During our AOS interview our officer didn't even bother to check whether my wife's original Medical was in the packet (it was definitely within the window of validity). In fact, one of the first things she asked was whether or no my wife had a new medical packet for her. 

 

 

[Hazelnut 6]

2 minutes ago, Alekezam said:

Why go through all the trouble of trying to prove that they may have lost your medicals when you can simply just get a new medical and submit it with the RFE and be done with it?

 

Remember, they (USCIS) holds the power so even if you know you already submitted them and they are still valid according to policy do you honestly think that you'll win that battle? 

 

By now you should already know how inconsistent and unfair the USCIS can be. 

 

Yeah, dropping an extra $250-$300 on something that was not your fault is unfair but you'll have bigger fish to fry down the road if a few hundred dollars is too much to stomach.

 

Take a look at this thread and decide for yourself on your next steps but in my opinion, spend the minimal extra to get a new medical exam avoiding any further delays in your process. During our AOS interview our officer didn't even bother to check whether my wife's original Medical was in the packet (it was definitely within the window of validity). In fact, one of the first things she asked was whether or no my wife had a new medical packet for her. 

 

 

What's wrong with wanting to know what's going on with my case? I am aware of all what you're saying. I guess it wasn't clear, but I wanted to get other people's opinions before getting a new medical.

[Alekezam 162]

1 minute ago, Hazelnut said:

What's wrong with wanting to know what's going on with my case? I am aware of all what you're saying. I guess it wasn't clear, but I wanted to get other people's opinions before getting a new medical.

I'm not saying anything is wrong with wanting to know. 

 

If that's all your trying to find out then that's understandable. I would want to know as well. 

 

Apparently I misunderstood you as it sounded like you were not only trying to find out what the problem is but also trying to resolve the situation by proving that you are in the right and they are in the wrong. 

 

You received an RFE so it's already been established by the USCIS that something is wrong with your medicals for reasons unknown. 

 

I'm simply giving you my opinion on what I think would be the best route to take. 

 

It's only one of many opinions that you asked for. 

 

Not implying that you have to follow my advice. 

 

So apologies if you felt like I was being anything but helpful. 

[Hazelnut 6]

13 minutes ago, Alekezam said:

I'm not saying anything is wrong with wanting to know. 

 

If that's all your trying to find out then that's understandable. I would want to know as well. 

 

Apparently I misunderstood you as it sounded like you were not only trying to find out what the problem is but also trying to resolve the situation by proving that you are in the right and they are in the wrong. 

 

You received an RFE so it's already been established by the USCIS that something is wrong with your medicals for reasons unknown. 

 

I'm simply giving you my opinion on what I think would be the best route to take. 

 

It's only one of many opinions that you asked for. 

 

Not implying that you have to follow my advice. 

 

So apologies if you felt like I was being anything but helpful. 

Alekezam, thank you for understanding.

 

My husband and I already accepted that we will have to pay for a new medical exam as we are both tired of waiting, but I wanted to give a try to to see if there was a chance I could get the oversea medical exam to be matched with my case.

 

Oh well...

[Alekezam 162]

13 minutes ago, Hazelnut said:

Alekezam, thank you for understanding.

 

My husband and I already accepted that we will have to pay for a new medical exam as we are both tired of waiting, but I wanted to give a try to to see if there was a chance I could get the oversea medical exam to be matched with my case.

 

Oh well...

Understood. 

 

Let's hope the USCIS can track down your medicals and help you to avoid having to redo them. 

 

Good luck!