IR5 Medical Exam Sputum Test - Would the Visa Interview be Automatically Cancelled?

[bc00 3]

Hello! I saw a few posts related to the sputum test, but they were older and I had some additional nuances to my case. So figured I'd ask. Also, I'm new to the forum 👋

 

Overview

• My dad has his IR5 interview scheduled mid May 2023. This was scheduled by the NVC.
• He had his medical test mid April 2023 (last week)
• They saw a spot on his lungs and ordered sputum tests
• Results take 8 weeks
• Today he got an email saying his US tourist visa has been canceled
• They didn't provide any information regarding cancelation, but said they'll provide information when he goes to renew (?!)

 

Questions

• Should he go for the mid May interview, even though his medical results are pending? Or would they have automatically canceled his interview? (He'd have to take a flight to attend the interview).
• If his interview was in fact automatically canceled, how hard would it be to get another interview? I read that the medical report is only valid for 2 months after the exam.
• What would be your best guess on why his tourist visa got canceled? My guess is that they don't want someone who is going through a sputum test to enter the US, so they revoked his tourist visa. 

 

Note

• I read a thread about someone who went for the interview anyway, and their status got changed to AP (Administrative Processing). I'm guessing since they let him attend the interview, the visa would be issued once they get the medical results?
• My dad has a valid 10 year US tourist visa (expiry in 2031). He has had a valid US tourist visa since 2002 (he kept renewing it). He primarily lives in India and visits the US maybe once or twice a year. He has never overstayed. And he never stays more than 6 weeks at a time.

[Verrou 1,962]

5 minutes ago, bc00 said:

 

 

Questions

• Should he go for the mid May interview, even though his medical results are pending? Or would they have automatically canceled his interview? (He'd have to take a flight to attend the interview). imho, it always better to go for the interview no matter what
• What would be your best guess on why his tourist visa got canceled? My guess is that they don't want someone who is going through a sputum test to enter the US, so they revoked his tourist visa.  it's unrelated. AFAIK, people can enter USA with tourist visa without any sputum test, sputum test only applied for IMMIGRANT intent. 

 

 

 

[bc00 3]

Update: Apparently he was told during his sputum test that they will be canceling the appointment. Has anyone else had their appointment canceled by the medical clinic because the sputum test is pending?  

[Chancy 6,241]

19 minutes ago, bc00 said:

What would be your best guess on why his tourist visa got canceled? My guess is that they don't want someone who is going through a sputum test to enter the US, so they revoked his tourist visa.

 

My B1/B2 visa was also revoked after I was tagged for sputum testing at my visa medical in Manila.  Having active TB disease renders a visa holder inadmissible to the US, so I suspect they preemptively revoke the visas of those who are suspected of having the disease, even if still undergoing testing.  My sputum test results came out negative for TB, so I was medically cleared and soon granted an immigrant visa.  But the B1/B2 revocation stayed on my immigration record 😠

 

[Verrou 1,962]

53 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

My B1/B2 visa was also revoked after I was tagged for sputum testing at my visa medical in Manila.  Having active TB disease renders a visa holder inadmissible to the US, so I suspect they preemptively revoke the visas of those who are suspected of having the disease, even if still undergoing testing.  My sputum test results came out negative for TB, so I was medically cleared and soon granted an immigrant visa.  But the B1/B2 revocation stayed on my immigration record 😠

 

 i really think it's double standard when the tourist can visit US without any test, but immigrant cant. 

when i did medical last year ( inside US),  the doctor found out im TB positive based on bloodwork, but im in the clear after chest x-ray. ( latent TB)

the things is i've been living in USA for 5 years when they found out 🙄

Edited April 20, 2023 by Misscloud

[bc00 3]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

 

My B1/B2 visa was also revoked after I was tagged for sputum testing at my visa medical in Manila.  Having active TB disease renders a visa holder inadmissible to the US, so I suspect they preemptively revoke the visas of those who are suspected of having the disease, even if still undergoing testing.  My sputum test results came out negative for TB, so I was medically cleared and soon granted an immigrant visa.  But the B1/B2 revocation stayed on my immigration record 😠

 

Thank you so much for your response! That makes us feel a little better. We were worried there might have been some other reason why he might have become ineligible to enter the US.

 

Did you have to schedule the interview after the medical results came through? Or did they find a date for you? And how soon after the medical results came back negative was the interview scheduled?

 

22 minutes ago, Misscloud said:

 i really think it's double standard when the tourist can visit US without any test, but imm igrant cant. 

when i did medical last year ( inside US),  the doctor found out im TB positive based on bloodwork, but im in the clear after chest x-ray. ( latent TB)

the things is i've been living in USA for 5 years when they found out 🙄

Oh yikes! Yeah... I'm curious why they have this extra process for immigrants when tourists don't have it.

 

 

[Chancy 6,241]

3 minutes ago, bc00 said:

Did you have to schedule the interview after the medical results came through? Or did they find a date for you? And how soon after the medical results came back negative was the interview scheduled?

 

I requested an interview appointment as soon as I got my medical clearance after the sputum testing period.  3 weeks after my request, I got a new interview schedule.  But note that I went through visa processing in Manila.  The procedures and timeframe for your dad's process in Mumbai may be different.

 

[anaw 2]

On 4/20/2023 at 11:06 AM, Chancy said:

 

I requested an interview appointment as soon as I got my medical clearance after the sputum testing period.  3 weeks after my request, I got a new interview schedule.  But note that I went through visa processing in Manila.  The procedures and timeframe for your dad's process in Mumbai may be different.

 

Hi, i just wanna know how you requested for interview appointment after you got your sputum result. Both of my parents went to medical yesterday and my mom got tagged with sputum. So i wonder how i could rescheduled her once everything is over.

[Chancy 6,241]

10 minutes ago, anaw said:

Both of my parents went to medical yesterday and my mom got tagged with sputum. So i wonder how i could rescheduled her once everything is over.

 

Check the thread below for a discussion on the rescheduling options specific to Manila --

 

 

[InsideExpat 0]

I am new here and found this board trying to figure out what to do with a similar situation. My wife had Tuberculosis last year and underwent 6 months of treatment   Finishing in September of 2021 in her country. She’s since been to the US and back. Finally, after being in the I-130 process for 2.5 years and an interview at the embassy on the horizon, she had a medical exam and they made her do a sputum test over a 3 day period because they don’t like the look of her lungs. They told her she needs to wait 8 weeks and they cancelled her interview. They also have my young stepchild on a separate interview situation and she’s only 6 but that’s besides the point. 
 

I don’t entirely understand what’s going on but I can see this is going to run into the next school year and we’re really down about this. 
 

What can I do or is this just what it is?This process has taken years. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by InsideExpat

[Lemonslice 4,886]

28 minutes ago, InsideExpat said:

I am new here and found this board trying to figure out what to do with a similar situation. My wife had Tuberculosis last year and underwent 6 months of treatment   Finishing in September of 2021 in her country. She’s since been to the US and back. Finally, after being in the I-130 process for 2.5 years and an interview at the embassy on the horizon, she had a medical exam and they made her do a sputum test over a 3 day period because they don’t like the look of her lungs. They told her she needs to wait 8 weeks and they cancelled her interview. They also have my young stepchild on a separate interview situation and she’s only 6 but that’s besides the point. 
 

I don’t entirely understand what’s going on but I can see this is going to run into the next school year and we’re really down about this. 
 

What can I do or is this just what it is?This process has taken years. 

She will have to wait for the results.  Positive results may show before 8 weeks, then it would be  a treatment plan depending on the country, before they could enter.  Negative results would be forwarded to the embassy/consulate and they would then schedule the interview.  They would have only a few months to immigrate [6 months from the medical].

 

I am sorry about the long waits, but it has nothing to do with the medical exam

 

ETA: you should fill your timeline, or provide more details.  Others will then be able to give more detailed advice for the country she is immigrating from.  

Edited May 27, 2023 by Lemonslice

[bc00 3]

37 minutes ago, InsideExpat said:

I am new here and found this board trying to figure out what to do with a similar situation. My wife had Tuberculosis last year and underwent 6 months of treatment   Finishing in September of 2021 in her country. She’s since been to the US and back. Finally, after being in the I-130 process for 2.5 years and an interview at the embassy on the horizon, she had a medical exam and they made her do a sputum test over a 3 day period because they don’t like the look of her lungs. They told her she needs to wait 8 weeks and they cancelled her interview. They also have my young stepchild on a separate interview situation and she’s only 6 but that’s besides the point. 
 

I don’t entirely understand what’s going on but I can see this is going to run into the next school year and we’re really down about this. 
 

What can I do or is this just what it is?This process has taken years. 

My dad is currently going through the process:

* His 3 day sputum test came back positive.  While he was waiting for the results, they canceled his interview as well as his US tourist visa (which he's had for 20+ years).

* The results were supposed to come back in 8 weeks, but he got his results in 4ish weeks 

* Since the result came back positive, they require him to stay in Chennai for 6 months while he undergoes treatment at the same hospital. If he tests negative sooner, then he won't have to stay the full 6 months. I'm told they do this to ensure that the patient takes the medicine everyday without any breaks. 

* Once he tests negative, the hospital will send the results directly to the embassy and they will schedule an interview 

 

If your wife's results come back negative, she shouldn't have any issues. They'll forward the results to the embassy and they will schedule an interview.

[InsideExpat 0]

40 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

She will have to wait for the results.  Positive results may show before 8 weeks, then it would be  a treatment plan depending on the country, before they could enter.  Negative results would be forwarded to the embassy/consulate and they would then schedule the interview.  They would have only a few months to immigrate [6 months from the medical].

 

I am sorry about the long waits, but it has nothing to do with the medical exam

 

ETA: you should fill your timeline, or provide more details.  Others will then be able to give more detailed advice for the country she is immigrating from.  

Thank you for your response. She is emigrating with my six year old stepdaughter from the Dominican Republic. I had applied for an i-130 in January of 20 or 21. Lol. Idid two applications, 1 for each   I recall seeing  S1 and S2 in letters recently. They somehow have my stepdaughter as a completely separate case and want to do a separate interview (for a six year old???) and haven’t given her a medical exam date from what I’m gathering if that makes sense??? 
 

It’s been really difficult and considerably longer than I anticipated. 

[InsideExpat 0]

34 minutes ago, bc00 said:

My dad is currently going through the process:

* His 3 day sputum test came back positive.  While he was waiting for the results, they canceled his interview as well as his US tourist visa (which he's had for 20+ years).

* The results were supposed to come back in 8 weeks, but he got his results in 4ish weeks 

* Since the result came back positive, they require him to stay in Chennai for 6 months while he undergoes treatment at the same hospital. If he tests negative sooner, then he won't have to stay the full 6 months. I'm told they do this to ensure that the patient takes the medicine everyday without any breaks. 

* Once he tests negative, the hospital will send the results directly to the embassy and they will schedule an interview 

 

If your wife's results come back negative, she shouldn't have any issues. They'll forward the results to the embassy and they will schedule an interview.

Thank you. My wife did 6 months of treatments with pills last year that she took on video every day. Assuming that the pills did what they are supposed to do, what I believe they are seeing is damage from the disease. She’s had some other health issues. We have great insurance in the US. We are paying out of pocket in the DR for any medical visits and treatments she has which is a killer. I’d like her to get tested for things here. 

[Rajesh W 0]

On 4/21/2023 at 4:55 PM, anaw said:

Hi, i just wanna know how you requested for interview appointment after you got your sputum result. Both of my parents went to medical yesterday and my mom got tagged with sputum. So i wonder how i could rescheduled her once everything is over.

hello

did you resolve this? how did you schedule their new interview appointment after the sputum came back negative?