yoda one for me

3 minutes ago, ohcoffeeeyes said:

Sorry to derail the thread slightly but better than making a new one. When you did that, was it easy or hard? I have a history of anxiety and depression (though never took meds as it was before I was 16 and I had ONE meeting with CAMHS). My history is a bit complex won't get into it but I never took meds and I was hospitalized before. As I said this was before I was 16, do you think my GP would be like "yeah hes not shown any signs of it" and be okay with writing such a letter?

It depends a lot on your individual circumstances and the way your GP surgery operates. I imagine they're all slightly different but I'm not sure  

My situation was really straightforward and simple, and they were quite happy to write me a brief letter to what I asked in the letter of request I wrote (note: I had to pay a small fee and it took a week), and my record backed it all up so I didn't have to talk to a GP in person for them to verify it. In terms of my health, my main issues were nearly 20 years ago and well behind me, with only a minor blip of anxiety in the last few years that had me trying medication briefly and recovering without it afterward.

For a more complex or serious case I guess they might want to talk in person about it before they're comfortable writing a letter - the best thing to do is contact the surgery and find out what their procedure for this kind of letter is. 

Does your surgery have an online system where you can look at your current summary and active prescriptions? Mine does and it showed my prescriptions from the past 12 months. They printed off a surgery copy of this for my patient summary document.

Perhaps if you haven't been going back to check in with your doctor & get a reissued prescription they won't be on there for you, but if you can get to an online system to check that might help you determine when to request your summary. 

Otherwise, it can't hurt to make an appointment to talk to your GP and explain that you'd like them to note down that you stopped taking them some time ago and are feeling very well and just want it on record. They'll probably tell you off for not doing it with their supervision but hey ho  

Whoever writes your letter about your mental health will likely refer to your records to do so (it was a senior practice member and not my personal GP who wrote mine), but if your GP surgery is anything like mine, I had to put in a request in writing explaining what I needed them to say (a brief explanation of history and last treatment, that I was not a danger to self or others - this is key as long as it's true!, and that i am currently well) and based on my records they were happy to do exactly that. 

edit: Also when you fill out the initial questionnaire that you have to bring to the medical, it asks for you to add second sheet with more details if you answer yes to various questions like, say, hospitalisation and self harm. I added a sheet that explained dates and some context for my particular case and how my health currently is. The doctor did read this and ask me about it and was ultimately satisfied. The key to me seems to be making sure you are honest and upfront about everything. 

Yeah, we are aiming to pick up from the Milwaukee depot ourselves. This company will apparently send dimensions of the wrapped pallet before it ships, so we're going to wait for that then figure out if it will fit in the back of the pickup truck or if we need to rent a van. 

I don't have it to hand but I think it was a bit under £800 to get my stuff to Milwaukee. Apparently that was their minimum charge for a move. 

I'm using this company - https://www.shipit.co.uk/ Haven't moved yet but am booked in for next month and so far their customer service has been good - they've put up with me calling them up to ask lots of questions and get variations on quotes to figure out what we want to do

I'm only shipping boxes of personal items (as I'm selling all my furniture and things like that) but these guys quote based on volume of what they shrinkwrap on pallets rather than making you pay for a whole container.  Sounds like you have a lot to ship so I'd expect any quote to be pricey tho tbh.

As I understand customs should be ok with household goods that aren't brand new, but you should probably expect a port handling fee on top of your removals (for my quote it was about $200 to be paid when things arrive). 

47 minutes ago, Neonred said:

Don't know how it works at O'Hare, but we bought a puppy online that was shipped to us from South America.  Picked her up at the cargo location in Ft. Lauderdale.  Had to sign the usual paperwork, but it was all pretty easy and didn't take more than an hour or so.

Thanks so much, that's reassuring. :) Hopefully Chicago should also be pretty simple. We are anticipating heading to the cargo area and the staff there being able to clue us in on the paperwork and whether we need to get anything stamped elsewhere in the airport. Glad to hear it was a quick process for you!

I can use google too, yes   But again that only answers about location, which I'm already aware of.

It's the process that I'd like to know so I'm hoping someone who's had experience doing this can pipe up.

Just now, JeanneAdil said:

Puppies and dogs entering the United States  must be 6 months of age and may not enter the United States from any country until fully vaccinated (rabies and distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, and parainfluenza virus (DHLPP) and accompanied with an import permit.

 

I had taken both my golden retrievers to Canada when i went camping and when coming back into the US ,  they were going to quarantine them   6 weeks as i did not bring shot records with me.   i drove home to Pa and got the records and went back for my pets.

Thanks JeanneAdil, but I have all that covered . What I'm asking for is what is the procedure for collecting the animal after it has been shipped as cargo is. There won't be any quarantine to deal with, I just want to know if it's a simple process of some form-filling and stamping or if I should be paying extra money for someone to handle it for me.

They would deliver him to our home, but that's an extra cost again and I would rather get access to my dog ASAP so I don't want him being ground shipped to me from the airport when we're an easy drive away ourselves.

I have no problem picking him up from the airport, I am just trying to understand what the process of getting him released from cargo to us is so I can determine if the extra cost for this optional service is worth taking, or if we'll be spending a lot of money for something we could have easily done ourselves. The cost of shipping him is fine, that's a necessary evil that we budgeted for, but this liaison cost has come out a lot more than I was expecting.

I'm using a shipping company because I'm leaving the country before him, so he has to go as cargo. It's not convenient for us to fly on the same flight so this is the only other way of doing it, and I had read that shipping out of Heathrow requires you use a shipping company rather than DIYing it anyway. 

Hi all, wasn't sure where was the best board to post this.

I am due to enter the US on my K-1 visa in October and will be having my dog shipped over from the UK (via British Airways) a few days after I arrive. While I've found loads of information about requirements for documentation etc and what I need to have done before he flies, I'm struggling to find out what the process is for actually picking up my pet once he arrives in Chicago!

The pet shipping company I'm using want an extra £545 for an agent to handle this and they're claiming it can take 4-6 hours before our pet is handed over, but surely it's just a matter of driving to the airline's cargo area and filling out some paperwork? I have asked them to explain what the charge covers because it seems excessive and they've been vague and just repeated the above, but it has got me worried that it must be extremely difficult to pick up your animal if you don't know what you're doing. 

Has anyone shipped a pet via cargo to Chicago O'Hare specifically? What was the process on arrival to collect your pet? Did it take long? Was there anything particularly complicated involved?

2 hours ago, samia84 said:

I have no idea if I can...that's why asking for help if anyone can tell me what is the best way to take it 

I am very nervous and worried and want nothing to go wrong during my interview 

Well, rolling it would avoid a fold mark which I am assuming is what they do not want. But it may be simpler, as BingoH said, to just buy an A3 size folder and carry everything in there.

Could you roll it and take it in a poster tube? 

If I remember rightly (it's been a busy couple of months!) this was more like the right order.

Step 1 - Supporting Documents

Step 2 - Medical Examination

Step 3 - Application Form (DS-160)

Step 4 - Scheduling the Interview

Step 5 - Registering with the Courier Service

Schedule your medical once you have a LND case number & do your DS-160. Once you submit the DS-160 you can schedule an interview (be sure to pick a date 2 weeks after your medical), and as part of that process you also register with the courier service and can pre-pay for your passport to be delivered to you (otherwise you collect from a depot for free). 

I'm a graphic designer - branded corporate stationery is still very much a thing

London accepted the most recent W2 and employer letter in my case. I didn't take any other tax documents because I thought the W2 was the required tax document 🙈 I was still approved and was not required to show any pay stubs, bank statements (we never asked for any letters, just printed statements), investment statements etc. which I did offer. We were well above the poverty threshold too, as we demonstrated on the affidavit of support, so I can only guess that's why we didn't need more documents to check.

I was in and out in about 75 minutes (having got there 15 mins early for my appointment so filling out forms before they called me in for my x-ray at my actual appointment time). It was not busy at all, the place was pretty empty - only a two or three other individuals and one or two young families there. I understand if it's quite busy it can take longer, so it's luck of the draw.

edit: My appointment was for 11:30, I think I was actually out in 45 minutes because I was getting my times mixed up with my embassy interview. I was on the train home for 12:45 (booked it right after I got back to Euston from the medical)

In my experience the London site instructions are out of order. IIRC I did the DS-160, then booked my medical, then did the apply for visa/book interview/register with courier portion. 

I'm pretty sure it states that you should give your best guess or estimate if you don't know exactly, but where you do know, I would use the most exact mode possible.

I believe that's the term they use for someone who is certified/authorised to perform a visa/green card medical in the US. 

If you're missing any vaccinations, insist on having them there (and pay!)!

They apparently sometimes tell people they can go home and get it form their local GP but, as I understand, this causes a huge hassle as that means your vaccs aren't signed off on the day and causes visa delays at best - at worst could cost you even more $$$ having to go to a civil surgeon in the US after you move to get signed off for AOS. 

It can take a little while on hold before you get through (about 15 mins for me). I booked mine a bit in further out by necessity but they offered me an appointment around a week from when I called. They did not ask for payment in advance on the phone.

Supposedly it's automatically extended by the embassy (so I understand), but you'll need to take a fresh (recently dated) letter of intent to marry from each of you to your interview. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong

1 hour ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

Went to the surgery to see the nurse. I saw her earlier in the week as came for my B12 injection and we’d discussed my pertussis shot then - she advised that she wasn’t sure which version I’d need, as they have one for pregnant women and one for children - I advised that to my knowledge it’s the one for children, but she wanted to check it out first.

 

So, went in yesterday and she advised that she’d called her NHS advisory line and they told her that pertussis isn’t routinely given to non-pregnant, adult people - and as such, they can’t give on the NHS as it’s considered a travel vaccine. She advised that their connecting pharmacy does do travel vaccines and I’d be able to get it there, for a fee - I was perfectly happy with this.

I had this difficulty, in the end I made a nuisance of myself by being persistent and so the nurse prac was in and out to talk to someone up the chain at the surgery before eventually agreeing that she could give me the combined Pertussis, tetanus, diptheria, polio but she'd have to put me through privately meaning I needed to pay. Cost me just under £50 but all done. It was Boostrix that she gave me, if that helps (google describes it as Tdap).

I went in armed with a bunch of printouts (London embassy website has a chart of what's needed and I also took in the immigrant vaccination guidelines in general) to be able to plead my case and it took over an hour to get it sorted but it was in the end. Because it wasn't a standard vaccination and not part of the travel vaccinations, she wanted/needed to see documentary evidence that I needed exactly that, and then she was able to get it authorised internally. In hindsight it took so long because the system wasn't working for her to get the price so I could pay 🤦‍♀️

(Sidenote: she wanted me to come back in two months for my second dose of MMR but I've got a second appointment booked the week before my medical (just over a month from shot 1) and I'm going to plead my case armed with NHS guidelines on the booster being given 'at least a month' but not necessarily 2 months later. Wish me luck!)

It seems mad to me that in these times of the anti-vaxx movement that we have to fight so hard to get our wanted vaccinations!

Yes, it's all happening so fast! We had expected to be waiting longer so I've got a trip to the US booked, having to book my London medical and interview around that 😆 I'm checking CEAC status a couple of times a day to see if it switched from 'In transit' to 'Ready' yet, even though it could very well be next week that they get to processing them.

Good luck to you as well 😎

15 minutes ago, Meg101 said:

This may be a really silly question and I’m sorry if its been asked a ton before, but how do I know for certain that my case is actually on this shipment and that it has arrived as the screen below suggests? 

If CEAC status says your case is 'In transit' you can assume it's in that shipment. Should change to 'Ready' status once it's been processed by the Embassy, as I understand.