Medical RFE

[Miranda&James 8]

Miranda and Angilla -

I empathize with what you are saying. The only problem with fighting this bureaucracy is it is not the normal kind. Congressional aides don't have any input into how USCIS is run - they can run interference here and there - fix this situation, help with that problem - you get my drift. I'm enough of a pessimist to think it would take hundreds of phone calls to every Senator's and Congressman's office before they would be moved to advance upon USCIS in some holy pilgrimage to solve the problem of regularly misplaced I693A's. The 'system' is overburdened with too many other issues. Like K2 ageouts, people stuck in namecheck for years, waiver filings, VAWA, IMBRA, etc.

You both have been in 'the system' a while and you've both been good posters to the forum. You understand I'm sure that there really are larger situations out there than this one.

The only problem I had with the suggestion from the other thread was the point we should simply ring up our elected representative the moment we get this RFE. IMHO that's an entitlement attitude. Should USCIS misplace the information from the file? No. But should we, as grown-ups, expect someone else to fix a problem we might be able to handle ourselves? I don't think so.

You both know my husband and I had a much more challenging immigration situation than a misplaced I693A. We went down several avenues trying to ascertain information about my husband's case before we called upon our Senator. I wanted his staffers to know I had done my part before I asked them to take time from their day to work with me.

In life you have to pick your battles. Any battle I can solve my own, I'm going to do that. If I solve the problem myself - I know it's taken care. If I count on someone else, they might muck it up further.

I 100% agree it is absurd to contact your congressman for every RFE and have been tempted to bless out a few posters who have done this when their RFE is easily fixed by sending back in a form or two. I guess I don't know enough about exactly what powers a Congressman has so perhaps a better suggestion in the future on my part is contacting the Ombudsman like another poster mentioned. While they can't fix the issue, I do know it's their job to pass on complaints by filers to USCIS. Just as a note though, it was a misplaced I693, not just the I693A vaccine form, so the cost of fixing that issue, while certainly could be done by the filer, would cost around $300 or so dollars depending on your CS. We just got unusually lucky in our connections in getting our RFE solved and I really wish there was a route that others could take to fix theirs as well without having to put so much more money into their case, especially money that was already spent once and by no fault of their own, their medical was lost.

I have a friend who works for the congressman in Dallas. He told me that they do whatever they can to help with immigration problems. He said that's what his office is there for. With that being said, I don't see the outrage about people contacting their congressman.

And although you may think that it's easily fixed by sending out a form or two, I have to disagree. It's not in some people's budgets to go and spend another $300 or whatever to get a new medical test done. USCIS KNOWS you had a medical done or you wouldn't be here so why don't they fork up the money to get these new medicals done. It's ridiculous and shouldn't be allowed to keep happening.

I still say contact the Ombudsman - that's what he is there for.

Assuming you are referring to me (since I'm the latest quote) about your disagreement, I was saying that RFEs for things like more tax transcripts or whatever are easily fixed by sending a form or two and don't need Congressional involvement, and I get annoyed when people get congressional involvement for RFEs of that nature. If you'd read any of my recent posts you'd clearly see that I myself got a medical RFE and think that it is an outrage to have to pay another $300 and advocate getting whoever you need to get involved that will be able to help you in the deal. If a Congressman really does help with that then great, call them, because no one should have to pay another $300 for something they already sent in.

[misa 2]

I'm on the side that agrees with asking for congressional help when the problem is an entire lost/misplaced medical (not just the supplement, not tax transcripts or anything easily rectified). Isn't that sort of their job to help or at least inquire on our behalf?

The reality is that not all of us have easy access to going to an infopass appointment due to distance, no driver's license, lack of transportation, etc. If our spouse needed to take us there, it may also result in lost wages for taking the time off for something "missing" through no fault of our own.

[jg_am 0]

We just scheduled an infopass appt. for July 24th. We'll see what happens. As the Magic 8-Ball would say "Outlook not so good" based on this similar post: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...c=71621&hl=

If I don't hear from my congressman by the appointment and the result is negative I'll try calling his office. Heck, I could even walk there being that his local one is just a few blocks away.

[Miranda&James 8]

I'm on the side that agrees with asking for congressional help when the problem is an entire lost/misplaced medical (not just the supplement, not tax transcripts or anything easily rectified). Isn't that sort of their job to help or at least inquire on our behalf?

The reality is that not all of us have easy access to going to an infopass appointment due to distance, no driver's license, lack of transportation, etc. If our spouse needed to take us there, it may also result in lost wages for taking the time off for something "missing" through no fault of our own.

Yeah, for us it would be a 4+ hour drive which would either involve an entire day off of work or spending the night, which could all be for nothing for them to say too bad, your medical really is lost. Infopass wasn't really an option for us, I'd rather have paid for the new medical than risk spending all the money on an Infopass that might not work. If your office is closer thats one thing, but for us it was not.

[lynamon 0]

jg_am .... I sent you a pm .. when I went for my medical they told me that they would send me a copy of it if I needed it once I got to the states for $50 .. to just give them a call. It's good for a year and it will save you a couple of hundred bucks .. hope this helps

[irishgirl73 0]

jg_am .... I sent you a pm .. when I went for my medical they told me that they would send me a copy of it if I needed it once I got to the states for $50 .. to just give them a call. It's good for a year and it will save you a couple of hundred bucks .. hope this helps

I called the place where Gavin had his medical in Dublin-the doctor sent a letter stating that his vaccination history was complete & that he tested negative for HIV & syphyllis. I sent that letter in with the I-693 that the doctor here filled out

maybe you could try contacting the doctor who performed the medical? It can't hurt!

[Cassie 8]

jg_am .... I sent you a pm .. when I went for my medical they told me that they would send me a copy of it if I needed it once I got to the states for $50 .. to just give them a call. It's good for a year and it will save you a couple of hundred bucks .. hope this helps

I called the place where Gavin had his medical in Dublin-the doctor sent a letter stating that his vaccination history was complete & that he tested negative for HIV & syphyllis. I sent that letter in with the I-693 that the doctor here filled out

maybe you could try contacting the doctor who performed the medical? It can't hurt!

At the end of my medical in Canada, the doctor handed me a copy of the vaccination worksheet that he filled out. I didn't ask for it, and once I got into the AOS process I thanked my lucky stars that he had voluntarily given it to me, it saved me a lot of aggravation. So my humble advice to people is to ask during the original medical for a copy of the worksheet, it can't hurt. If anything, it would save some money down the road.

[irishgirl73 0]

jg_am .... I sent you a pm .. when I went for my medical they told me that they would send me a copy of it if I needed it once I got to the states for $50 .. to just give them a call. It's good for a year and it will save you a couple of hundred bucks .. hope this helps

I called the place where Gavin had his medical in Dublin-the doctor sent a letter stating that his vaccination history was complete & that he tested negative for HIV & syphyllis. I sent that letter in with the I-693 that the doctor here filled out

maybe you could try contacting the doctor who performed the medical? It can't hurt!

At the end of my medical in Canada, the doctor handed me a copy of the vaccination worksheet that he filled out. I didn't ask for it, and once I got into the AOS process I thanked my lucky stars that he had voluntarily given it to me, it saved me a lot of aggravation. So my humble advice to people is to ask during the original medical for a copy of the worksheet, it can't hurt. If anything, it would save some money down the road.

my man aksked for it & they wouldn't give him a copy....he was pretty mad b/c the thing cost 300 euro! When I called the doctor & asked for the copy he still wouldn't give one-that is why we asked for a letter from him.

I would suggest to anyone going thru it now-definetky ask for a copy, it could save a lot of aggrivation later on.

[jg_am 0]

I figure I"ll call the border crossing and the doctor in Toronto while waiting on the infopass appointment. There's quite a few options to exhaust in the next week or so. We're really not thrilled about this...obviously.

[jg_am 0]

Here's the latest update: I called Peace Bridge to see if they had a copy of the missing forms. The officer said they don't touch the sealed package other than to put stamps on it and send it along. He also said the missing forms were Department of State forms and that I should get a hold of someone from there. I've since emailed Montreal to see if they have the forms and I'll give that a day or two. I'll follow up with my congressman later in the week and then the infopass appoinment next Tuesday.

[jg_am 0]

I emailed Montreal about our case/medical info and here's what their response was:

I think it is best to clarify with the California Processing Center if they want a medical done in the US as we are not familiar with the forms mentioned below. The medical for the K1 visa had to be done by one of our panel physicians in Canada but for an adjustment it may be different. Also if they misplaced the medical you may ask the physician to fax copies directly to their office if they accept this. When we receive your medical it is placed In a sealed envelope to be presented with the other documents at the Port of Entry.

I also called the 800 number and they thought we could send the vaccination supplement but I don't know about that. I'll wait for infopass at this point.

[jg_am 0]

I called my congerssman's office to follow up on the email I sent last week. It was his local office, so they didn't get the email from DC yet. Anyway, they're going to send me a release form and they'll see what the problem is. The case worker said it's a very slow and over burdened system and things get lost all the time. It was a relief to see something is getting done, or at least moving somewhere. I said we had copies of everything so hopefully that will help them help us. I'm hoping this gets resolved before our infopass appointment.

[misa 2]

Good luck and hope you hear something soon!

[jg_am 0]

Yes another update... I can't say enough about our congressman's staff. I live in the same town as his district office, actually it's less than a mile away. As they were perparing to send me the records release form, they realized how close we are to the office and called us and said it would be quicker if I just came in. They called again this morning to ask us to bring my wife's A# and the CSC address/case info. We had all that ready to go(RFE, medical records, vaccination uspplement), but still appreciated the calls. Now we get to play this waiting game. Even if they're not able to do anything, I feel good that our congressman is at least trying.

Rebbecajo, I understand your points about not getting a senator/congressman involved with every little thing, but as a co-worker told me this morning, that's why they're there...to help us. If it was an error in our part, I wouldn't have had any problems working things out on my own, but the fact of the matter is someone else messed up, not us, or that we're aware of.

[misa 2]

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!