khris

I had my medical last Saturday and thought I would share my experience...

My appointment was scheduled for 11am but having arrived early in London and spend long enough wandering around in the rain, I thought I would see if they would let me in at 10:45. Buzzed their doorbell (Flat 4) and the door unlocked without a word. Through to the right was greeted by a friendly young lady who immediately started taking my documents and processing me. I took a pee in a vial whilst she continued to photocopy my documents. Had an extra questionnaire to fill in in the waiting room, no surprises and didn't take long to hand back to reception. It was quite busy, probably about ten people being processed at the time.

2 minutes later I was called in by the jolly vaccine lady. Checked my records, all good apart from flu jab, which she did there and then, adding £12 to the bill. Didn't feel anything... until a day later when I could hardly get dressed properly. Quite painful for a day or so the day after! Wish I'd had it done before Christmas as I've had more than my fair share of illness this season. She checked through my extended questionnaire too, and asked if I had a doctors note to explain I'm not a threat to myself or others now or in the future (I had a bout of psychosis in 2001, which didn't require hospitalization). Fortunately enough I knew this was probably going to be needed (thanks britishexpats) so had one with me (doctor charged £30 me for it). She added it to my file and wished me luck.

I was probably in her office for 10 minutes. Back to the waiting room. I wasn't called in by the doctor for 15 minutes or so.

He was a nice American man. We chatted for a few minutes which helped put me at ease. He struggled to find some of my accompanying paperwork, explaining details of my DUI (single occurance in 2002), teenage cannabis use (occasionally, before 2000), and psychotic episode. Eventually found it, and the facts (dates) seemed to be acceptable for him. It was at this point onwards that he made a point to say that the extra questionnaires (one for drug use & history, one for mental health / history) and extra urine sample (checking for drug use, costing extra £50) were purely a formality to satisfy USC in case they asked for it. He happily ticked 'no' for everything and said it would be fine. This part of the medical was a huge relief for me as I'd heard horror stories about people being permanently banned for mentioning cannabis use as a teenager, and having to wait an extra 6 months for drug monitoring with a DUI. So now I felt I could relax a bit, he took my vital stats and blood sample (barely felt a thing here). Apparently, he felt there was no need to check my genitalia.

I was probably in his office for 15 about minutes. Back to the waiting room for 10 minutes before being called in by the radiologist.

A jolly fellow enjoyed telling the odd joke and doing the odd impression. Quite funny actually, I wondered if the radiation had gotten to him at all. Quite a quick process, just shirt off and stand by a metal slab in an awkward position for a minute or so. Breath in, X-Ray taken, breath out, done. I could see the result on his computer, asked about a big black object on the right - he assured me it was just a pocket of air in my stomach. Back to the waiting room to be called by recieption.

I was with the radiologist for 5 minutes, and back in the waiting room for another 5 minutes before being called back to reception to pick up my passport and pay the bill. I was given a copy of a vaccination document to be used for medical insurance in the USA. Better not lose that.

They were all very friendly and efficient. Nothing gave me the impression that my medical would cause any problems with my VISA application, hugely relieved by that but will know for sure if we don't hear anything from them before Wednesday. Very impressed with the whole operation, in and out in just over an hour.

I hope this is useful for somebody else, I've certainly found posts like this to be helpful in the past.

Next step, interview...

tom169

I also remember the jolly x Ray man.

It's funny to think that he is a degree of separation that links many of us BE members.

BenK91

He was incredibly jolly!

He was certainly more friendly than the miserable admin/receptionists I dealt with on my visit...

KK85

I occasionally think this, too! We've all met that guy. We've all sat in that waiting room. (Well, many of us, at least.) Probably only a handful of people on this forum have (or might), I imagine, ever spent any time with each other, and yet here we all are, all having had our lungs inspected by the same jolly X-ray man.

Congratulations on passing your medical, khris! You had some similar concerns in your medical journey to me, it seems. Glad everything worked out.

Twinkle0927

I feel left out. I had a nice, but not "jolly" X-ray woman in November 2016.

I pointed to a shadow on my X-ray picture and said, in horror, "is that normal?!?!" She said "it's your heart. It's normal".

Jamackabi

I also encountered this guy a few weeks ago, probably the highlight of my appointment!

He called me into his X-Ray room and apologised for making me wait. He said he'd not had a chance to sit down since starting his day as he'd been asked to do several different jobs by the women in the building, like change a light bulb and fix the heating. I said "So you're a jack of all trades then?", to which he replied "You could say that. I am the only man in the building and the women here are useless!". Not sure that was entirely appropriate, but it made me smile all the same.

khris

Well, I did hear back from them before Wednesday!

Apparently my urine sample came back showing positive for Opiates. The only thing it could possibly be is that I took 3 over-the-counter painkiller tablets over a range of 4-7 days before my medical (12.8mg dose of Codeine in each tablet). I was suffering from some back pain the weekend before, and had an incredible headache the Tuesday before (off work for 3 days). They didn't even help that much. I was quite surprised to hear I'd tested positive for them as it's such a low dose and should have completely left my system in time for the medical.

The lady on the phone asked me a few questions about it, and has passed on details of the product I used, along with my explanations, back to the drug testing lab to confirm. She says I will hear back from her within a week.

I'm a bit worried now! Not really sure how this will affect my application. Seeming more to me like a lot of little issues could end up snowballing into a big fat VISA rejection.

tom169

You'll be fine. You obviously could answer the questions and the drug testing company understands that a lot of false positives can occur.

khris

Thanks for your encouragement, Tom, you helped put my mind at ease.

You were right too, apparently my test came back negative this time! Just had a call from the doctor who said he's happy to pass on the results to the embassy. Such a relief I must say, this whole process is quite a rollercoaster.

Does this mean there will be no more drug screening? I mean, I've read threads where people have had to go back for random drug tests over a 3 to 12 month period.

Rete

Yes, no more drug testing. I'm sorry I don't recall if you are doing a K-1 or a CPR/LPR. With the K-1, even though it was formally a condition that you have to get the I-693 Supplement done by a US panel doctor, there was no drug testing involved. It was just a matter of getting the vaccination record updated. It never applied to PR.

khris

That's great news, thanks for confirming. I wasn't sure if they might ask for more drug testing at the interview stage.

BTW, I'm applying for a IR-1 Spouse Visa (been married to my lovely American wife for almost 4 years now).

tom169

Sounds like you're all set! I'm glad it worked out ok.

When you're in the US and resided for 3 years, your next step, should you choose to, is apply for naturalization and there is no medical required for that.

You're done with doctors as far as USCIS is concerned.