Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: Medical Appointment
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
April 2, 2026 |
| Embassy Review : |
For my medical appointment with the Knightsbridge Visa Medicals team, I was required to be there at 9:10am, scheduled 2 weeks and one day from my visa interview. I was initially very nervous for the medical appointment but it was a lot easier than I thought in the end.
I arrived early for my appointment and entered soon after the doors opened. There were already quite a few people inside bustling around and the door opened into a fairly small entryway/hallway with two windows. The vibe was quite casual and busy, but all of the reception staff were very friendly, helpful and easy to talk to.
I gave my name and was given a form to fill out while I waited to be called from a small waiting room next door. The form was essentially a few questions about conditions you may have and medications you take etc. Fill this out with the information on your GP Summary Care Record and don’t worry about rushing.
After filling out my form, I did end up waiting almost an hour with no contact before I finally went to ask the reception if I had been checked in properly. To which I found I’d been missed and sort of forgotten about! I would have checked earlier but the pressure of the situation made me try to wait as I’d been told.
I then returned my form and was required to give in the documents requested on the Visa Medicals email, such as DS160 and appointment confirmation, passport and passport photo, police certificate, birth certificate, medical questionnaire, GP summary care record including immunisations, and any supporting medical evidence of which I had some GP letters. This is much easier if you don’t put everything in a big folder with organised separate sleeves as I did. One plastic sleeve with everything in it seems a bit more efficient here. (They keep your passport until the whole appointment is done.)
After I was fully checked in, I went back to sit in the waiting room. You are called in three stages: first, for with a radiologist for your chest X-ray, then with an immunisation nurse, and finally with the doctor to look over your records.
After being checked in (properly), it wasn’t too long before I was called for the x-ray: a very friendly, smiley lady gave me a papery medical gown and explained that you must undress your top half fully (including bra) and then put the gown over your front. I changed behind a curtain and then she directed me to the x-ray machine which was just a black square on the wall. You press your chest into it and she arranged my arms the way she needed them, and then the scan was over. I changed and kept the gown with me in my bag.
You return to the same waiting room after each stage, and it wasn’t long before I was called again to the immunisation nurse. She explained I would need a tetanus booster since it had been 10 years since my course (we don’t really do 10 year boosters in the uk). And a hepatitis B as that wasn’t included in child immunisations when I was a kid (it is now). And finally, a flu jab as the season doesn’t end till 31st March. If your appointment is after this and before the next flu season, you won’t need a flu jab. No covid booster is requested anymore.
I decided to get all three on the day to save any issues down the line. I’m not someone who struggles with injections, and found them quick and easy. But even if you are, the nurse was lovely, explained everything, was very reassuring and even gives you a distracting breathing exercise for the higher volume jab. She was great and wished me well with my wedding and the move to the US! You are warned that some people can experience a fever next day, and to stay hydrated, but I experienced no side effects but some slight tenderness at the injection site for a few days.
After returning to the waiting room I was called by the doctor. I had requested a female doctor beforehand when I made my phone booking and this was honoured. She took me into what looked like a regular GP’s office. We sat down and she went over my initial notes and wrote some things down, then asked me a bunch of questions similar to the medical questionnaire you completed beforehand. I mostly said no to everything.
Then she went through my GP Summary Care Record and made a note of my anxiety which I had provided supporting evidence of a GP letter (explaining my history of therapy, anxiety medication, and affirming that I am not at risk of harm to myself or others). She accepted this. I also had a neurological condition on my active section that was a mistake by my GP from 2008. I had been worried beforehand that I didn’t have a GP letter explaining this, but she accepted my own explanation, especially since I was on no current prescription medication. She asked if some old kidney stones had passed and also checked on a mention of gender dysphoria, which I explained I no longer suffered from, and this was accepted without further proof as well.
She measured my height and weight (no comment on this despite overweight), checked my eyesight with my glasses on, and then told me to undress to bra, underwear, socks behind the curtain, put on the papery gown so that the opening was in the front, not back, and then lay down on the examination bed. She checked various things quite quickly, my lymph nodes, eyes ears, mouth, pulse, listened to my chest and back, and poked and prodded my torso a bit. She didn’t explain much and was mostly quiet the whole time but it was fine. Then she took my blood from my right arm and I was ready to get changed again.
I returned to the waiting room again as they processed my stuff for check out, then was called up to pay and collect my passport; the form that I had to bring to the embassy document check; a form to give to my own GP with my updated vaccinations; and a form to bring to the US for my future adjustment of status application.
After this, I was done, very relieved and ready to head off to my document check at the US embassy. Though the paper form say you have until 1:30pm to get there, you actually have until 2:30pm, which would have saved me rushing if I’d known. There was enough time to get to there from the medical place even after an hour delay like mine.
Overall, the visa medical was (mostly) smooth, comfortable and a good experience with very friendly people. They also emailed me a few days later with the pdf version of the AOS form, and when I followed up to ask if my medical had been processed and sent to the embassy yet about a week later, it already had been. Very good service! |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0