Does anyone know if a TB Test is required before leaving South Africa to the UK? What does a TB Test involve, is it just a normal chest x-ray? Would it just be my South African husband that needs to get it? or would myself (ex Brit) and my kids need to produce one too? How does a history of pneumonia show up on an x-ray and could this be mis-diagnosed as TB?

I dont know if a TB test is required for the UK. It is for NZ. It was a chest x-ray as far as i can remember. I would think that if it is required for the UK, it would be required for everyone, as it depends on where you have been living as to whether or not there has been a risk of exposure. (not sure on the age of your kids and whether they would need one if still very young).

I think the way TB is diagnosed from the X-rays is by looking for specific scarring of the lungs, so I dont know if pneumonia would be picked up and mis-diagnosed. I would think there have been enough people with pneomonea for the diagnosis to be able to distinguish (but i have no real knowledge in this area)

Sorry i cant tell you whether it is required for the UK for not.

Auds, I can't give a definitive response, but I believe, if you have UK passports, you can just re-enter the country like anyone else. That is what I did, and what others I know did. Possibly Whalewatcher can confirm, as he recently returned from SA.

As for your SA husband, I don't know, but you would certainly be advised on whatever was required. The TB test is just a straightforward chest x-ray. If anything untoward appeared you would be told and further investigations would be made.

There is heightened awareness of TB in medical circles in the UK. Too many Africans are arriving (many as asylum-seekers) and bringing drug-resistant TB with them. Prior to that it was pretty much eradicated from the UK.

Auds, I have no idea about TB testing for UK re-entry...(the US requires it) but I can recommend that you pose the question in a forum: medhelp dot org forward slash forums. The answers are provided by doctors from Jewish National in Denver Colorado. You must go to the respiratory disorder side of the Doctor portion of the forum. They take a certain number of questions during a 24 hr period, and if your problem gets posted at the right time, they Will answer. They will know whether a history of pneumonia will fake a TB presentation on Xray.Sorry, that's all I have. However, JN is the #1 medical center in the US for adult respiratory disorders. Good luck to you.

I really don't know, but I visited the UK a few weeks ago for the first time in nearly 20 years. Immigration just checked my British passport (issued in Pretoria), handed it back and waved me through. No questions.

There you go thats the answer!!!. TB testing is done via X Ray and a certification by the radiologist. Sometimes children are required to be innoculated.

I know it's a very late answer, but just in case it is needed by someone else...

If you are coming to the UK for a period longer than 1 year (So visa holders really) then you are required to have x-rays and a certificate which you can request from your doctor. I had this done the first time we came over and then forgot all about it, only to be stopped again on another occasion (Before I had permanent residency), and was then sent to for x-rays at Heathrow airport before being allowed into the country. I was stuck in a queue for 1.5 hours, so it's definitely worth having it done before you come.

My OH is planning a trip back to South Africa in Feb/Mar 09 (on his own cos I don't fancy going back just yet) and he's on a settlement visa. He had his xrays and certificate with him when we first entered the UK in April this year. Are you telling me that he needs to go and have more done??? So would he have to have the xrays done in SA while he's on holiday just to be able to get back into the UK with no problems. This sounds ridiculous.

No, he is on a settlement visa so he shouldn't need to. He could just take his certificate and x-rays with him to be on the safe side, they will still be valid. It's mostly people of working holiday visa's that they pull aside, once I had my permanent residency or right to abode I was never questioned again. I really doubt there will be any trouble.

Thanks Kitten24, good to know and I'll tell him to take them with him just in case.