ErinB

An update for anyone about to go through the tail end of this process:
 
Medical finally submitted on 3/2. CEAC went from Refused to AP on 3/2. Last updated on 4/2 but no status change. Currently still AP, so I'm assuming it will probably stay there until next Thursday 11/2

Also factor in to future planning that we now need to get a negative COVID test before we fly, and that costs about $150, in case you’re at the stage of planning your move 

Alright. I'm going to do this before relief takes over and all my frustration subsides. 
 
Today, friends, I have a little review for you, of a Dr Okraglik at Toorak Village Medical Centre. 
 
It just so happens that, after a very long and anxious wait, my husband and I applied for an expedite of our application - which was at NVC and DQ'd - and it was successful. Our paperwork was sent to the consulate, and we got the long awaited email towards the end of November about scheduling an interview. At that time, the NSW/VIC border was still shut, so we deferred our appointment until we could attend. All said and done, we ended up scheduling an interview for 8am December 22nd, which was close on a month after we made the request, which we chose to do to give us a decent amount of time to get ready. 

Well. The 22nd was a Tuesday, and on Sunday afternoon the border between Sydney and VIC was announced to be closed. We tried desperately to reschedule our interview come Monday morning, but it wasn't enough notice. So, with only a few hours notice, I stuffed a handful of clothes and all my paperwork in a suitcase, my friend zoomed me to the airport, and I flew to NSW, went to my interview, and just assumed I'd be stranded there until they opened the border - also pretty convinced that I was going to lose my job as a result. I was just about to head off to Newcastle to be stranded with some distant family so I wasn't just paying for a hotel indefinitely, when I decided to use my flight credit from my original cancelled flight to Sydney, to book a flight home and see if I could board the plane. If I couldn't no harm no foul. But if I could, they'd have to let me into hotel quarantine. I made it just in time - only  few days later, people started having their border passes checked at the boarding gate and denied boarding without one. I went into hotel quarantine in Melbourne and stayed there over Christmas. I had to give up my original medical assessment appointment because I couldn't be back in Melbourne in time. I had to find someone to look after my dogs for two weeks I didn't expect to be gone. I thankfully got to keep the job I'd only started a few weeks earlier, even though I was gone for in total 3 weeks as opposed to the 2 days I was supposed to be gone. 
 
All this is to say: it was a very stressful time. And after the year of uncertainty we've all had, with this ^ BS as the cherry on top, I really did not need another run around...
 
Which is why, when I booked my medical appointment, I just wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible. I wanted to get all the things done while I was already taking time off of work, and honestly before I pretty much just collapsed in a ball of stress and anxiety. I called Toorak and Sonic, and Toorak had an appointment available on the 7th, the day after I was released from quarantine. There was a catch though: immediately after that, on the 8th, the doctor was going away on holidays until the 25th. They asked if that was okay, stating the doctor would have to sign off on all the results and send the report on the 25th. I said sure. 
 
I read on one of the threads in this forum that if we got any missing vaccinations at our regular gp, they were covered by medicare. I looked up the CDC guidelines for what vaccines I needed, and compared them to my vaccination history. 
I had a severe allergic reaction to the Whooping Cough (pertussis) portion of the Tdap vaccine when  was very young. I was hospitalised and they discontinued the further two doses of that particular vaccine, giving me an alternate mix that didn't include the pertussis part. I have this documented. I spoke to my husband a lot about my concerns that this nurse's chicken scrawl from 3 decades ago wasn't going to cut the mustard, the doctor wouldn't believe me, and would insist that I got the pertussis vaccine - which obviously I did not want to do, as I knew the reaction happened and that it could be really risky for me to have that vaccine again. My husband very kindly researched it for me and showed me that the CDC specifically says, for visa medicals, that if the patient has contraindications or a history of serious allergic reactions, they should not be given this vaccine. This made me feel a lot better. 
With all my information gathered, I saw that the only vaccine I would need was a tetanus shot, so I went and got that on the 7th,  a few hours before my medical assessment. 
 
Now. Here we go. 
 
I get there and everything goes pretty smoothly for a bit. They ask for my passport but seem confused when I tell them I don't have it, because the consulate has kept it at my interview. After much discussion amongst receptionists, they decide that my driver's license will be fine. I fill out all the forms, and very soon the doctor comes out and gruffly calls my name, speeding off down the hallway and pretty unamused that I seem to be unable to keep up with him. 
 
When we get into the room he asks me a couple of general questions, and then asks for my vaccination history. I give him all my childhood records, and the record from my tetanus needle earlier that day. He looks at it, then looks at me, and says "why did you do that?"
I said "oh, I knew I needed it done, and I read it was easier and cheaper to get done at my gp, so I did." 
He furrows his brow at me and replies "well, that was stupid, because now this computer program won't let me enter in today's date for your vaccination history. Because it's a HISTORY."
....I bit my tongue and stopped myself from explaining that any time that had already past was considered history and that that did, in fact, include 4 hours prior when I got my tetanus needle. I also stopped myself from telling him that that sounded an awful lot like a him and his computer problem, and not a me problem. 
But I really wanted to. 
 
He continued asking me the usual and expected questions about history of illness, family medical history, history with drugs and alcohol. I told him that I do drink: on average about 1-2 drinks per week. He then moved on and asked about previous surgeries, and I told him that I'd had quite a few, listing them all (all for actual injuries, not for anything that would be cause for immigration concern). I get to my broken arms and he says "so, you didn't have surgery?" 
I said "yes. I did. They put me under general anaesthesia..."
He scoffs and says "that wasn't really surgery. They just moved it back into place."
......k 😑
 
He then asks again about whether I have a history of drug or alcohol use. I tell him the same thing. 
 
He moves on to asking about my vaccination history and why I went to get my tetanus vaccine. I repeat the same thing I told him earlier. He says "you'll need a Tdap, and another MMR you need two doses, and a flu vaccine".
As far as I understand: 2 doses is ideal for MMR, but 1 is sufficient, and is considered a lifetime dose. The flu vaccine is only given in flu season, which it currently is not" Whatever, I shut up about those. But I spoke up about the Tdap. I directed him to the documentation of my reaction when I was younger, and explained that that morning I had specifically gotten the vaccine that did not include pertussis. 
He said "that probably wasn't a true reaction."
I said "well, at the time it was treated very seriously, and I have always been warned by my parents and family doctors to not get this vaccine..."
"You would likely not be allergic to the new version."
"Do you know that for sure?"
"....it's unlikely."
"Is this something I absolutely have to get?"
"....If you're not planning on having kids in the next few months, it's not required, But you should have it done."
"With all due respect, if it's not required, it's really not a risk I'd like to take."
"Why? You'll probably be fine."
"Because my support network is currently living in another country. My parents aren't around, I'm an only child. I have no family to help me if I do suffer a reaction. I'd really rather not take that risk."
"...Fine."
 
After that uncomfortable exchange, he then asked me about drugs and alcohol. Again. 
By this point I'm starting to wonder if I give off some sort of vibe.
 
The rest of the exam went uneventfully, though he asked me the drugs and alcohol question a total of five times. 
 
The nurse took me in to do all my measurements, an eye test, and give me my vaccines. She was very nice and asked lots of questions about my husband and I while I was there, being very chatty. Which could have been mistaken for just idle chat had she not been intensely interested in my tattoos. All of them. Exactly where I got them and what they meant. And maybe she really was just a tattoo aficionado and I'm just paranoid. Or, maybe, the interview portion of the medical assessment wasn't entirely over. 
 
The rest was easy. Blood test, urine test, xray, done. I went home and excitedly waited for the 25th. 

Come Monday the 25th, I open my CEAC tracker and my email, waiting to hear from the doctor. 
Nothing. 
At midday I call just to get a sense of what even the order of operations is here: will they tell me when it's submitted or if there's a problem, etc?
The receptionist, Zoe, answers the phone. She sounds a little annoyed by my nervous questions. Fair enough, I think - I've also been a receptionist/customer service person, and like almost everyone who's worked in one of those jobs, I hate people. Which one happened first? Who knows, one of the great mysteries. Zoe tells me that the doctor will submit the assessments at the end of the day and as it's his first day back, he may decide to stay until 8 or 9, so... 
Alright. At least now I know to just back off my CEAC tracker and wait. 
 
At 5:30, as I'm walking out of work after a very unproductive day of being unable to concentrate on anything else, I get a call. It's Dr Okraglik himself. He proceeds to tell me that my license has recently expired - I of course know this and have already renewed it. He explains that as it expired while he was away, the computer system will not allow him to use that as my ID because the ID is now invalid. He says "so you should bring the passport you forgot at the appointment and we can photo copy it". I tell him I didn't forget anything, and that the consulate has my passport. He says "oh, yes, right right" and for a minute I stop being annoyed with him because he all of a sudden sounds like an old man who just can't get this darn technology to work and he's trying, and honestly that's me on most of my days, so I felt like we understood each other a bit better. He said he would email the consulate that night asking them what he should do. 
 
Tuesday was, of course, a public holiday so nothing got done. 
 
Wednesday I wait until about 2pm and hear nothing, so I call the doctor's office. They inform me that he doesn't work on Wednesdays. 
.....
 
On Thursday, I email Zoe. I make sure to hide my rage and be very nice. Zoe and I strike up an unusual but adorable friendship that I know will not last a lifetime, but will at least last until she forces Dr Okraglik to do his job. She tells me she'll chase it up, but confirms that the email was sent to the consulate, and there's nothing they can do. 
 
I hear nothing for the rest of the day. 
 
Whilst all of this is happening, I'm actually talking to another person on VJ who's in exactly the same boat: their medical is sitting right there with mine, waiting to be submitted. Only he's now being waiting more than a whole month. I'll let him jump in and tell his whole story because holy moly, but rest assured that after a MONTH of waiting, and knowing they had absolutely everything they needed to submit his assessment, this person was told things like "something came up" when he asked for an explanation as to why this was taking so long. Big yikes.
 
On Friday, I send Zoe a charming good morning email asking for an update. She says I should definitely email the consulate and ask them to reply to Dr Okraglik's email. I do. They reply and tell me that the doctor's office neVER EMAILED THEM. But now that I have, they'll send a copy of my passport over so the assessment can be submitted. Finally, at the end of Friday, I get an email from Zoe confirming the medical is submitted. 
 
Potentially I just caught him on a bad day. Or maybe I caught him in a bad year, who knows. But, as I've heard from some other commenters in other threads, this guy and his team have a bit of a reputation. 
I'm just sayin': if you've got the choice, I would probably avoid this place. Go to Sonic Health. Every person I've seen coming back from there says it's fantastic. I hate to bring out my inner Karen, but this guy was....a lot. 

I had two vaccines done on the day - MMR and the flu. They were $40 each, supposedly, though tbh I don’t think they charged me for that. $630 was what I was quoted when I called to make the appointment, and I was told vaccines could be an extra anywhere between $40 to $200 or more depending on what I needed. 

Also factor in to future planning that we now need to get a negative COVID test before we fly, and that costs about $150, in case you’re at the stage of planning your move 

They email you once they've made a final determination. 

that is why I did not have my appointment with him. 
 
I paid the bit extra and went to Dr Stephanie at Sonic Health near Flagstaff station. She was amazing.
 
to anyone else in Victoria - do not go to Toorak Village. 

go to Dr Stephanie in the CBD 

Yes! 
sorry it took us so long to update, it’s been a pretty insane 48 hours. 
 
So, what ended up happening is that after many conversations, the people I managed to get a hold of basically told me that there was no way to guarantee that my reschedule request would be received by the “correct department” and approved in time, and that although the general protocol if I didn’t turn up to the interview was to put me as a no show and have the consulate ask me to reschedule, they also couldn’t guarantee that would happen, and they couldn’t guarantee that if that were to happen I would be able to schedule our new interview for any time soon. 
 
Essentially: “might be fine, but it also might be years of work down the drain. Have fun.” 
 
We decided that we didn’t have much choice... I got on the last plane out of Melbourne, and I’m now in Sydney and stuck here indefinitely. 
 
The silver lining to that situation is that we had our visa approved pending medical! We have the 221(g) form and I’ll be attending a medical as soon as I can, depending on which state I’m allowed to be in at the time 🙃. But, we were given verbal approval by the CO who seemed very happy with everything and confirmed we were approved pending our medical. 
 
 

Hi!

Another update:

We had our interview this morning. I am now stuck in Sydney, because as the border restrictions were announced on Sunday afternoon, we weren't able to reschedule. 

And we were APPROVED PENDING MEDICAL!

The CO addressed all of my concerns and let me know none of them were things to be worried about and once they get the medical report they'll happily issue the visa. They kept my passport. 

HOORAY

Hi!

Another update:

We had our interview this morning. I am now stuck in Sydney, because as the border restrictions were announced on Sunday afternoon, we weren't able to reschedule. 

And we were APPROVED PENDING MEDICAL!

The CO addressed all of my concerns and let me know none of them were things to be worried about and once they get the medical report they'll happily issue the visa. They kept my passport. 

HOORAY

Well, the email has arrived. Our interview is finally scheduled, for December 22nd. I'm SO nervous. 

Hello all! 
 
so after much waiting, we finally got our expedite request approved. I wanted to lay out our timeline and process for future applicants. 
 
Applied for expedite: 10/10/20
Received acknowledgment email: 19/10/20
Received approval email: 27/10/20
Applied at: nvcexpedite@state.gov
Evidence supplied: none
Reasoning: we applied on the basis of:
- emotional hardship at separation and lack of clarity for the future
- fertility hurdles that we are rapidly running out of time to do overcome 
- family members that are COVID high risk
- my husband’s business, at which I will be working after my immigration
- mental health issues, and my lack of support network in my home country 
 
 
 
Hopefully this helps someone. We’re in Victoria so there’ll be no interview yet, but I would say that by the time we get the email from the consulate we’ll have a much clearer picture of what the border will look like in the near future, and we’ll be able to plan. 

Congrats! 
 
next step is for the consulate to contact you. For us that took about 3-4 days. They’ll send you an email with three options for scheduling your interview. 
 
I’m also in Melbourne! How great is the border opening news?! Have you booked in your medical yet? 

Small update - Only two days of quarantine to go for me then Medical Monday Embassy visit Tuesday.. Will update once these happen.
For those in Victoria I hope you have seen the news, NSW will reopen to Victoria by midnight Nov 23.
 
Best of wishes to All.

Hello all! 
 
so after much waiting, we finally got our expedite request approved. I wanted to lay out our timeline and process for future applicants. 
 
Applied for expedite: 10/10/20
Received acknowledgment email: 19/10/20
Received approval email: 27/10/20
Applied at: nvcexpedite@state.gov
Evidence supplied: none
Reasoning: we applied on the basis of:
- emotional hardship at separation and lack of clarity for the future
- fertility hurdles that we are rapidly running out of time to do overcome 
- family members that are COVID high risk
- my husband’s business, at which I will be working after my immigration
- mental health issues, and my lack of support network in my home country 
 
 
 
Hopefully this helps someone. We’re in Victoria so there’ll be no interview yet, but I would say that by the time we get the email from the consulate we’ll have a much clearer picture of what the border will look like in the near future, and we’ll be able to plan. 

Hello all! 
 
so after much waiting, we finally got our expedite request approved. I wanted to lay out our timeline and process for future applicants. 
 
Applied for expedite: 10/10/20
Received acknowledgment email: 19/10/20
Received approval email: 27/10/20
Applied at: nvcexpedite@state.gov
Evidence supplied: none
Reasoning: we applied on the basis of:
- emotional hardship at separation and lack of clarity for the future
- fertility hurdles that we are rapidly running out of time to do overcome 
- family members that are COVID high risk
- my husband’s business, at which I will be working after my immigration
- mental health issues, and my lack of support network in my home country 
 
 
 
Hopefully this helps someone. We’re in Victoria so there’ll be no interview yet, but I would say that by the time we get the email from the consulate we’ll have a much clearer picture of what the border will look like in the near future, and we’ll be able to plan. 

Hello all! 
 
so after much waiting, we finally got our expedite request approved. I wanted to lay out our timeline and process for future applicants. 
 
Applied for expedite: 10/10/20
Received acknowledgment email: 19/10/20
Received approval email: 27/10/20
Applied at: nvcexpedite@state.gov
Evidence supplied: none
Reasoning: we applied on the basis of:
- emotional hardship at separation and lack of clarity for the future
- fertility hurdles that we are rapidly running out of time to do overcome 
- family members that are COVID high risk
- my husband’s business, at which I will be working after my immigration
- mental health issues, and my lack of support network in my home country 
 
 
 
Hopefully this helps someone. We’re in Victoria so there’ll be no interview yet, but I would say that by the time we get the email from the consulate we’ll have a much clearer picture of what the border will look like in the near future, and we’ll be able to plan. 

Hello all! 
 
so after much waiting, we finally got our expedite request approved. I wanted to lay out our timeline and process for future applicants. 
 
Applied for expedite: 10/10/20
Received acknowledgment email: 19/10/20
Received approval email: 27/10/20
Applied at: nvcexpedite@state.gov
Evidence supplied: none
Reasoning: we applied on the basis of:
- emotional hardship at separation and lack of clarity for the future
- fertility hurdles that we are rapidly running out of time to do overcome 
- family members that are COVID high risk
- my husband’s business, at which I will be working after my immigration
- mental health issues, and my lack of support network in my home country 
 
 
 
Hopefully this helps someone. We’re in Victoria so there’ll be no interview yet, but I would say that by the time we get the email from the consulate we’ll have a much clearer picture of what the border will look like in the near future, and we’ll be able to plan. 

Hello! To everyone following along, we actually did end up getting an acknowledgement email letting us know our expedite request was being reviewed. So, timeline so far has been:
10/10 - lodge expedite request with nvcexpedite@state.gov
19/10 - received email from NVC stating our request was being reviewed

Will update as we go.

Glad you hear your journey went well. Also that you were able to do MEL  through AKL to LAX Ok . I’ve booked a flight into SYD late November , 2 weeks quarantine there before flying to Melbourne .. I need to see my 92 yr old parents .. haven’t seen them since early February and they are finding things really tough. But my fear is getting stuck in Melbourne !! What was the passenger load like Melbourne to Auckland and Auckland to LAX? 

yep, that’s definitely on our list of considerations. I have six months of my lease left here, so I can’t relocate to qld just yet. But, if the nsw/vic borders aren’t open by jan/feb, I’ll be moving in with my mum in qld while we wait for the interview. We haven’t seen each other in a long time. I’m not too concerned with rushing to the interview within the next month or so, we still have a lot to organise before we’re ready to move: I have two dogs and a cat to organise moving, for a start, and my husband needs to move into the house we’ll be sharing with my animals plus his two dogs 😅. It’s not so much that we’re in a huge rush as it is that we’re at an awkward time stage: with six months left on my lease, I’d really like to not be in a position of having to sign another one, I’d like to have some time with my mum before I go etc. I don’t want to sit around twiddling my thumbs and leave us on this indefinite time period, and not have some sort of semi-reliable timeframe for us to work within. My thinking is that if we have an approved expedite, then I at least have a modicum of control - if the borders look to be opening up, we can start to get ready, and if they’re not looking to be opening up in time I can relocate.