Ahmed asks, "What should I expect from the medical exam on a spousal visa?"
All applicants preparing to enter the US on a CR-1 or IR-1 spousal visa are required to complete a medical exam before the consular officer will approve it. This medical exam is at the end of the process. We recommend completing the medical exam at least five to ten business days prior to the interview to ensure that the medical exam results are going to get over to the U.S. Embassy in a timely manner.
Some medical facilities will hand the medical exam results over to the applicant and they hand carry them to the interview. In other cases like in the Philippines, the medical facility, St. Luke's Medical Center, actually delivers the medical exam results to the embassy, so the applicant doesn't get to handle those. Where you'll have the medical exam is decided by the U.S. Embassy. The embassy will send out a set of instructions covers your interview instructions and medical exam instructions. If you do not receive those in the mail or through an email message, you can download those instructions directly from the U.S. Embassy where you'll be attending the interview. You should receive those well in advance because you'll need to know exactly where you're going to have the medical exam performed and how you'd go about scheduling the appointment. Some medical facilities allow you to register online, some are first come first served, some require an appointment, etc.
The medical exam fee varies from country to country and will be determined by the facility, and paid directly to that facility in local currency. For pricing info, go here.
Some items you'll want to take to the medical exam include, but are not limited to:
- Original interview or appointment letter and 1 photocopy
- Valid passport
- Photocopy of the biographic page of your passport
- 4 passport-style photos
- Vaccination records if you have them
Arrive early at your appointment, if it's scheduled, as it will likely take all-day. Don't plan on doing anything else this day.
Some things they'll do are including but not limited to:
- a standard physical exam
- a pelvic exam
- a urinalysis
- a chest x-ray
- blood work
The primary concerns that could disqualify you or cause delays are communicable diseases, signs of drug abuse or mental instability, among others. These rarely cause an issue, and even when they do, they likely tell you to return in a number of months for a follow-up. Of course, this is very tragic and inconvenient, but it's not the end of the road.
To learn more about exactly what is in the exam, and to see the actual forms that the doctors will fill out, so you see the fields on those forms, see the USCIS website directly.
