LanaMay

Why would you assume both other civil surgeon and I am wrong? Or do you imply I am lying?

My results came back clear and only thing I want is to have legit I-693.I do not want to spend money on another exam but I have to. This one just will not do.

And yes they do publish all requirements and exemptions in CDS and USCIS sites.I spent days researching and hoping I can salvage the results and not have to go to do exam again.In US laws and rules are not kept in secret.

Ignorance is a bliss but I can not afford to be ignorant, this I-485 filing is my last and only chance to get GC after 11 years of hard work and struggle.

I think maybe because this CS is from same part of the world and speaks same language as I am she feels she is doing me an extra favor, it is common in Ukraine and Russia to neglect the rules to do your comrad a favor.But I did not ask for it and I want everything by the book.If I demanded it she would probably do it as I ask,but I do not trust her any more and thats it.

I am going somewhere else.Doctor is not my servant but she is supposed to follow CDC instructions for civil surgeons and she does not.I contacted my lawyer and she suggested to get a second opinion.I talked to different civil surgeon few hours ago and he said I do have reasons to be concerned as clearly she did not follow CDC and USCIS instructions.

I am paying for I-693 completed correctly and truthfully.If she does not deliver I-693 filled out correctly or truthfully I am obviously not going to submit it.Do you think I owe her for doctors visit?Would you pay? What would be your reason to not report an unethical doctor and civil surgeon that does not do what she is supposed to?

Hi guys,

just went to have our medical exams done.

We did them once before 6 years ago for GC process trough my husbands employer.It is a long story about how employer's tax fraud can prevent you from filing I-485 in the end. Well, anyway all tests were negative(good) than, no x-ray was needed. This time doctor sent us to have x-rays done without even performing skin test for TB first.

I asked why.She said no one from Ukraine ever had negative(good) results for skin test and than you have to do x-ray anyway so why bother at all.I showed her our I-693 forms from six years ago that clearly stated both of us had negative(good) results.We did not travel abroad since.

She said:"You can be mad at me but I am still going to do what I think is right.INS will likely consider negative skin test insufficient.We are going ahead with x-rays." That is fine with me but is this situation seems a little weird or not at all?

I should mention the young nurse that took our blood. She looked trough some book for 10 minutes with stressed and confused expression on her face and than had to call the lab to make sure what test to perform and what size of tube to use.That is where seeds of my paranoia come from.

So here is my question.What is requirement for Tuberculosis test? Is x-ray mandatory now? Will it be OK if we only have X-rays and no skin test?

The way I understand it there needs to be a reason to have x-ray done instead of skin test.Is being from Ukraine a legitimate reason? Does it make any difference what kind of test you get as long as result is OK?

Here is the rest of the story:

I call doctor and say:"USCIS clearly will not accept paperwork if there is an x-ray without previous TST reaction of 5mm or more or severe reaction with blistering." She answers:"You have previous NO REACTION TST results in old I-693 from six years, ago from different doctor.But if you want another one she will do it again."

It does not make any sense.It is up to me now.Am I being swindled or is she a moron? Do not answer that )))

In any case I do not trust this doctor to fill out my I-693.She just will not be able to do it correctly after everything that transpired.Form I-693 itself is pretty straight forward and there is no option to submit x-ray without lying about TST result. Or even submit it without x-ray based on TST from 6 years ago.I am going to have to do it again with different civil surgeon.

So on Monday I am supposed to go get my results and sealed envelope.How should I go about it.I do not want to pay for doctors visit that did not accomplish anything.Do you think I will be able to somehow transfer blood test results and x-ray to another doctor so I do not have to pay for same tests again?

Should I file complaint? I think she should be taken off USCIS civil surgeons list.

I am worried she is running some sort of scam practice and now her office has my husband's and my dates of birth, SSN,address,driver license numbers.How do I get it back? HELP!

They don't have to give you a copy but ask and they will usually give you one. It's not a requirement though.

After few hours of research on USCIS site I found out the form instructions require the

Thank you.I will not bring it up with doctor than.

They supposed to give me a copy of everything that is in the sealed in envelope, right?

Why do you care about the x-ray? Why don't you want it? What's the big deal? It will come back clean and that's that.

I do not mind x-ray but this is what USCIS site says:

Q. Will USCIS accept Form I-693 if the civil surgeon performed a chest x-ray without the TST?

No, the civil surgeon must administer the TST, unless one of the exceptions listed in the Technical Instructions applies. If the civil surgeon performs a chest x-ray without giving the applicant the TST, the reason for omitting the TST must be noted on Form I-693.

reaction with blistering to a prior TST may be excluded from this requirement.

I can not be excluded than.Right? I need a test first before X-ray.

MMR vaccine (very common for in Asian countries) taken as a child causes a false tuberculin test, and which point you need a x-ray. Alternately, you can get it confirmed through blood test - which is perfectly acceptable by USCIS.

They will ask you to take a x-ray if your tuberculin test shows (false) positive, but you will have to do a skin test first, unless you have a record of a previous failed TB skin test. If you have a copy of that record, you can go straight to X-Ray and you will need to provide a copy of your previous failed TB test for documentation.

More here

I did not have false positive previously,I had clear negative test from 6 years ago.The doctor had this information and just refused to do any skin test at all simply because for some reason she assumed it will be false positive anyway.She sent me to do x-ray first thing without any skin test.It seems to be contradicting instructions on USCIS site.Thanks for the link. I guess I am going to have to confront her about it tomorrow.

Hi guys,
just went to have our medical exams done.
We did them once before 6 years ago for GC process trough my husbands employer.It is a long story about how employer's tax fraud can prevent you from filing I-485 in the end. Well, anyway all tests were negative(good) than, no x-ray was needed. This time doctor sent us to have x-rays done without even performing skin test for TB first.
I asked why.She said no one from Ukraine ever had negative(good) results for skin test and than you have to do x-ray anyway so why bother at all.I showed her our I-693 forms from six years ago that clearly stated both of us had negative(good) results.We did not travel abroad since.
She said:"You can be mad at me but I am still going to do what I think is right.INS will likely consider negative skin test insufficient.We are going ahead with x-rays." That is fine with me but is this situation seems a little weird or not at all?
I should mention the young nurse that took our blood. She looked trough some book for 10 minutes with stressed and confused expression on her face and than had to call the lab to make sure what test to perform and what size of tube to use.That is where seeds of my paranoia come from.
So here is my question.What is requirement for Tuberculosis test? Is x-ray mandatory now? Will it be OK if we only have X-rays and no skin test?
The way I understand it there needs to be a reason to have x-ray done instead of skin test.Is being from Ukraine a legitimate reason? Does it make any difference what kind of test you get as long as result is OK?

How did they found out about the knife? If I understand correctly at the moment police came you were outside talking to your neighbor.I assume you did not leave your wife alone holding a knife trying to cut her wrists.So it must have happened some time before cops came.And then when police came knocking she probably did not open the door still holding a knife. Did she actually hurt herself?

It seems like she should have claimed temporary insanity.Who wouldn't go nuts- newly married,alone in a foreign country, husband deployed, jealousy issues.

In my case I was able to recapture time spent abroad but it had to be filed before H1B expiration date. I do not think it is possible with H1B that expired many years ago.

Hi everyone,

I have been keeping track of visa bulletin as probably many of you out there, and as you know it's progress is painfully slow.

Recently EB3 line seems to be speeding up significantly.

In 2012 it moved on average only a little over 4 weeks ahead every moths.Than this year it moved up 5 weeks in January,6 weeks in both February and March,8 weeks in April and than... I can not really believe it ))), 6 months in May and 8 month in June!!!

Even with all this progress it is still only got to June 2008, but projection for next months is February 2009!!! My priority date is November 2009))) The way it was explained in this blog I read,it is because of of 18 000 additional visas (spillovers) from family based to employment based category.USCIS seems to have slowly started applying these spillovers to EB categories.

Can anyone confirm those dates are real from your own experience? Visa Bulletin seems to be a legitimate source, but still can not believe it is not a joke.

Check with your company lawyer, not sure your approach would work.

As far as I know once you go on H4 you are no longer employed with the employer and hence they have no reason to file for your GC.

Yes ,company lawyer required to handle this not consultant OP found.

However,OP is not required to be employed by company.She can leave and wait for her priority date abroad or being on any other legal status in US.The difficulty is this ridiculous backlog and fact that not many employers will pay a ton of money upfront and than wait for years to get a worker.There is also a question will position still be unoccupied when priority date comes.

It is a little hard to understand what anything has to do with November 1st.How can you know that it will start November 1st? There is no way to tell if it gets approved and when.

If you asking about your status during time between H1 petition is filed and approved than no.You do not have to stay in school after I-129 is submitted but if you do not get approved than you can not fall back on your F1 again.

I had similar situation.We had to to recapture my vocation time abroad in order to file H1 extension.

After you change status for H4 your H1 is done.There is no way to get back on that same H1 again.

The way I see it you have three options.

1.Have the GC process started ,transfer to H4 when your H1 runs out,wait for GC while on H4. However if you are 3rd preference like I am it is 6 years.And unless your husband starts GC process for himself you will not be able to extend his H1 for more than 3 years he has left.Than you both have to leave US and wait abroad.

2.Since you will have to be on H4 anyway why not start process for him instead.

3.Theoretically if you leave US now,come back in 6 months,file to recapture time spent abroad and have it approved than you will have enough time.But in order for it to work everything needs to go without a hitch with advertisement and certification.Your employer needs to be OK with you leaving for 6 months and agree to cover cost of GC process,recapturing time and than shortly 3 year extension.By the way extension is same price and process as recapturing.

Another thing I would suggest, have your VISA stamped right away.I can see how if you want it stamped after few monts abroad it may get complicated to explain your situation.Hypothetically, if the reason of your extended leave became known it might be considered tricking the system)))

That's not going to sound very logical if the birth certificate indicates a different country than you indicated you were born. Funny thing about logic is that it only works well when thought through completely, including eliminating logical fallacies and considering unintended consequences. In this case though, there really are no notable consequences to the kind of choices being discussed, as long as you use either the correct past name or correct current name of the country. City names change too. St. Petersburg comes to mind.

And now I have just one more thing to be paranoid about)))

I was born in USSR too,but I never put it as a place of birth,the idea just never occurred to me,since I was a kid when the change happened.To me it is like if person born before 1917 put Russian Empire as a place of birth))) In my opinion,logical step is to use current name of the country.

But if i'm working there during my OPT how can the employer advertise if i'm already working there?

So how do you go about changing from an OPT to a H1B then???

You need a new VISA and in order to get it you go trough the process that is the same for everyone.It does not matter if you are in US or not.Your employer hires a lawyer, and have to finance the whole thing.Advertisement has to happen.

The worst thing is -you have no control over anything ,and really you do not have much to do with anything at all. It is not about you getting a VISA.It is about employer filling the position with best available candidate, and citizens will always have priority over you.At least in the eyes of US government.

To AnotherLostSoul

Wow! You should brag about it and be proud of how great you and your family is.That is amazing story of survival and perseverance.It puts most of us to shame.Seriously!

Employer has to advertise for the position first,it takes few weeks usually and then there is a 60 day waiting period for all applicants to be able to send in resumes,have interviews etc.Only then,assuming no one qualifies for position,paperwork can be submitted.So if your employer starts process immediately you may be able to file in May.

I understand your frustration, my husband has engineer's diploma from Ukraine that is absolutely worthless here.WES does not change a thing.He decided the only option for him was to go back to school in US.

Try and see situation from employer's standpoint.Would you hire a civil engineer with diploma from other country that is in US for less than a year,quality of education is questionable, no experience of work in US,lack of language and communication skills? Huge liability.HUGE!!!

Most of us who come here with high expectations have to start our lives all over again and usually from the bottom.And still, I think,just to be able to live here is worth all the struggle and frustration.

LanaMay--you are here on an H-1(b) visa which suggests you are better educated than many and probably have a good job to boot.

I grew up in one of those little Midwestern towns--4000 people--and the unemployment rate is about 50% except during tourist season when everyone has a job, but that is just June - August, and again at deer hunting season in November. The rest of the time it is unemployment checks, food stamps, Medicaid, and a lot of help from the churches. So, yes, moving is probably the best option unless there are family reasons to stay, but implying that the boyfreind is a mooch--probably part of the 47%--is out of order.

I am really not implying boyfriend is a mooch.OP's story does not suggest he gets financial benefit out her or anybody else.I just urge to act,to go out of comfort zone,to not expect illusive help from anyone.Hope of any real financial aid from anyone other than boyfriend seems unlikely to me.

And since current situation is clearly not working for them change is the only way and he is the only one that can bring it.

Trust me I know what small midwestern town is.Back in 2002 I used to work on a farm in Clyde,OH population about 6000.Me and my masters degree had a lot of "fun")))

I am horticulturist and grower in a greenhouse, not the most glamorous job.

Victor's advice makes a lot of sense.

In my opinion, your boyfriend seems to be very passive participant in all of this,especially since he is the one who asked you to stay illegally and since he is the only person that has responsibility and opportunity to take care of this situation.

There seems to be a fairly simple way for you to get married and file for AOS and our main problem is lack of money.

I just do not believe a US citizen in reasonable health can not find any source of income for years.Unless there are legal or addiction problems and things of that sort.

Job is not going to knock on your boyfriends door in your little midwestern town so move to a better place.

Here in Twin Cities,MN there are temp agencies always looking for people.Of corse most of those are manufacturing,construction and landscaping jobs but it is better than no job at all.

I changed employers.For sure you need to have it stamped again.That is why I have not left US since.You also have to stamp it again if you extend your H-1B with current employer.

Work visa is not really an option for someone without at least bachelor degree.Also there are a lot of graphic designers in US that are unemployed right now.Your employer would have to advertise for you position and prove no one in US is available to fill it.

Not everything is ideal here true.I lived in Netherlands for a while before US and loved it.But it was very difficult to find a good job there not being fluent in Dutch. For me US was a better option and the fact I was very young when I came here helped to adapt.

At first I wanted to blame this country and it's people for my failures too.But you have to reconcile yourself to the simple truth that everyone is in charge of their own life and decisions to certain extent.I am curious too,why can't you go back to great life in your home country?

My happiness is people I love, not good work and a lot of money.

When all is said and done US of A is not even close to the worst place a person could live.I learned to love this country and appreciate what it have given me.I would not have a better life in Ukraine,where I was born.

Be positive and open minded,be kind and good to people and they will treat you the same.