darth vader

I went to Dr. Mascarenhas' office and my vaccination record was accepted and he said everything looks good. The office is easy to find and the x-ray is in the same building. You have to go across the street to lifelabs for bloodwork but it is a very short walk. Highly recommend him, very nice person. Lilly from his office is the one you would email with and she is very kind and helpful.

Apologies if this has been covered in this monster thread, but a few questions..
 
Looking at the Financial Evidence Assistance:
Is your mailing address or place of residence in the United States? If no, is your country of domicile the United States? Please see our I-864 Affidavit of Support FAQs for more information on domicile. YES Did you file Federal Income Taxes in the most recent tax year? YES Did you file taxes under the "married filing jointly" category? NO Do you meet the minimum income requirements per your most recently filed taxes for your household size?  YES My situation:
Never left US employment for Canadian, have 10+ years of US Tax Returns, W2 income, etc. Have 10+ years from same US employer (has always listed my parents US address as primary address). All employment pay stubs show US address - present day and historical. Maintained a variety of accounts/bills, valid/active US state drivers license, all linked to US address during time in Canada. Active status on local US municipal voter roll. Do you think enough evidence lives in the tax data, and a recent pay stub for proving US domicile?  I'm mostly concerned about having to find a rental property as it seems many people need this for iron-clad proof, but I've kept many ties to the US during my time in Canada.

I went to Dr. Mascarenhas' office and my vaccination record was accepted and he said everything looks good. The office is easy to find and the x-ray is in the same building. You have to go across the street to lifelabs for bloodwork but it is a very short walk. Highly recommend him, very nice person. Lilly from his office is the one you would email with and she is very kind and helpful.

Yes i see same - "Current status - Attend appointment" and my appointment details. 
Good luck!

Hi, I was able to schedule appointment this afternoon. You can check yours too if it has become available now.
Thanks

Hi, I got email for interview on Mar 14th and my interview is on April 11th. 
I am not still able to register the interview on this site https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/iv/information/iv_services. It still says not ready to schedule appointment when i fill out my details
 
Was someone able to register for that IL date ?
 
Thanks

I don’t know if they always do them. I’m guessing so as my vaccination history has all dates on it so there wasn’t a question on whether I had them or when. I don’t know if this varies by doctor or not either. 

Thank you, please read my comment just above yours with an update. I emailed my records (which have dates of shots mentioned) and the doctor's office told me that it is acceptable and I do not need any other vaccines. I am going to take their word for it rather than run around and trying to get boosters. I am not even sure what would I need.
 
Based on your experience though, I am curious, do they ALWAYS do a titers test at the medical to verify if you have immunity or did they do those checks in your case because your records from local health department may not have had the date when you got vaccinated in the past?

I used Dr. Lee for my medical.  I did it 9 days before my interview and he told me that I should expect my bloodwork not to come back before the interview, however it was back 5 days after medical.  They called me when they got the bloodwork back and said I needed a booster for MMR before they could send the paperwork to the consulate.  I went to a walk-in clinic that day, got the booster and emailed the receipt to the Dr. and they sent my medical to the consulate the next day - on time for my interview.
 
He does not administer any vaccines there, so you need to get them form a Dr or walk-in clinic.  Shoppers Drug Mart does some as well but they charge a fee.  
 
As far as what they will accept as proof you have been vaccinated, I don't know.  I had my vaccination list from the local Health Department from when I was a kid, my Covid vaccine proof and a receipt for the tetanus booster I received prior to the medical.  He took my verbal confirmation of having chicken pox as a kid so I didn't need that vaccine.
 
I suggest you get everything you can before your medical or they can't finalize it or send to the consulate which means they can't approve your visa at the interview and you will have to wait, likely several weeks or even months after it gets sent.

@darth vader I don't think you need to worry too much about this as long as you have your vaccination record from India, that should be acceptable. It just needs to have the full dates of each vaccination.

Depending on your age, some of the listed vaccines are not required so be careful before you start going and getting vaccines. I did a lot of research for mine and Dr. Cheema's info sheet really helped me figure it all out. The doctor you go to should absolutely be able to guide you on this and let you know what they need, but I really think your existing record should be fine. If you're missing any, they might tell you in advance if you ask before your appointment, and you can get any missing vaccines at that point. 

@darth vader note that with vaccines it is often recommended to either get them altogether at one time or wait 2 weeks between vaccines. So with your time constraint, make sure you get them all at the same time. Usually can be done at walk-in clinic.

@From_CAN_2_USYou can try applying for discover credit card. The process is all online. I started out with that when I landed first in US as a student with no US/Canada credit background

Thanks.
 
I just applied. They gave me a credit balance of $500. Lol. I guess it is a start…

If you have an existing RBC Canadian account, you can apply a cross border account. The RBC US account will review base on your credit score from Canada Credit Bureau. Another option is try to inquire at Bank of America if they can offer you a credit card and if they can base your credit score from Canada Credit Bureau. If they say no, then ask if they can offer you the Secure Credit Card. You will provide them a secure deposit which will be kept on your card. Every bill period you have to pay off your credits otherwise your secure deposit will be deducted with the amount of credit you owe. 

Take that form and if you ever had any other immunization records with you. No need to get all the shots again. 

Hey @darth vader, I totally get why you are fearing the worst right now, but I don’t think there is any chance of your visa getting denied because of this. Worst case, it would be a delay until the medicals are sorted out.
 
From what I understand, all the doctor needs is just proof of your vaccinations. They can be in any form. They can be from you family physician (common for Canadians who have lived there entire lives here), proof of vaccination received as a child from another country or titre tests showing your immunity.
 
I think the proof of vaccine you have from India will suffice if it covers all the vaccines (from memory, that’s MMR and TDap only, varicella if you haven’t had chicken pox in your life).
 
You can get a TDap by going to a walk-in clinic as well for free (just one shot). Varicella is two shots a few months apart, but you only need to start the series to fulfil the requirement. MMR, I am not sure about…
 
That leaves flu shot and Covid shot. Flu shot, you can get at any pharmacy and Covid shot, you probably have sorted.
 
So the situation is not as bad as it seems. Call Dr Mascarenhas office tomorrow and/ or email them. The staff and the doctor is super helpful. You got this @darth vader
 
 

thank you for updating your timeline.

@darth vaderas you said first option is to confirm with physician if they would accept your record. if not and  if you comfortable taking the vaccines afresh you can approach walk in clinics to get the vaccines afresh. I don't think they would insist on a titers test. I know someone from india who moved to canada who did that.

@darth vader, kindly add your interview date to your timeline, as well as your DQ date (which goes in case completed at NVX), thereby contributing to the VJ community as a whole.

Booster is not required as it's not part of the CDC's definition of vaccinated. Not sure about second dose tbh, when I wrote that things were still very much up in the air. I believe it'll be treated as the rest of the vaccines which come in a series where if you have the first then you're good to go but need to complete the series once in the US. 

1. For those in Ontario, in your experience, is Dr.Mascarenhas in Toronto better than Dr. Lee in Scarborough or Dr. Zatzman in Vaughn? I am hearing that Dr. Mascarenhas has more experience but not sure if/how that matters. If you can share your opinion/information on this, that would be great.
 
2. Regarding COVID vaccination status. FAQ says:
 
I can only get the first dose in a series vaccine before my medical. What should I do?
This is fine (as confirmed by Dr. Zatzman’s office). You will still need to get the remaining doses but your medical will not be
impacted.
 
    Does anyone know if this information has changed? I have both doses but no booster, not sure if booster is required?
 
Thank you!

When you register, this question is asked twice. The first time, answer “I have received a Consular interview appointment date from the National Visa Center (NVC) or the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) and I have been instructed to register my appointment on this site.”

Once you verify your account, you will be asked again and need to select “I need to register an immigrant visa appointment.”

I just tried registering mine and it said my case number is not ready for an appointment. In the past it seems to have taken a day for the system to be ready, so maybe hold off on doing this until tomorrow. 

Nope.
I was also skipped over as well friend  wish there was an answer here

Noooo… this is so weird!!!
 
Have you tried approaching your congressperson/ senator for help?
 
 

I’m skipped twice.. so frustrated right now.. I really don’t understand why things like this happen..