Medical examination for the US fiance visa application experience

A requirement for an Immmigraton US Visa is to complete a medical exam conducted by an accredited clinic. If you are processing your visa from the Embassy in Manila, the accredited clinic is St. Lukes Medical Center Extension Clinic located in Manila, a few meters away from the Embassy.

You can start going for your medical examination as soon as you have scheduled your interview. Leave around a week from your medical exam until your actual interview to give time for the team to forward your results to the embassy.

I hope you'll find my personal experience helpful to your journey.



I arrived at St. Luke's Medical Extension Clinic (SLEC) at around 4.20 am. The clinic starts to let people in at 4.30, and by the time it was my turn to enter, I was given number 61.

The previous night I arranged my requirements:
- my valid passport (mine has over a year validity still)
- 2 photocopies of  the biometric page of my passport (that page where you have your personal info)
- two (2) copies of my appointment letter
- two (2) copies of my embassy notification
- two (2) copies on the online SLEC registration - optional but saves you a couple of minutes filling the form up. If you haven't got the chance to do this, make sure you have your petitioner's contact details as you will need to provide that.
- three (3) 2x2 pictures. Write your full name at the back.
REMINDERS ABOUT THE PHOTO: No teeth showing, neutral expression, no jewelry, ears visible, white background. My former photographer failed to inform about the jewelry, I had to have my photo taken again at the last minute. Glad that there was a service across the street at that time.

Other documents you may bring:
- divorce/annulment papers (a requirement if applicable)
- previous vaccine/medical records
- x-Ray taken within the last 3 months

BRING YOUR OWN PEN :)





ARRIVAL & REGISTRATION
The guards at the entrance check your documents, so make sure it's complete. After your number is issued you will be asked to sit and wait for your number to be called.

Once you're called you will be asked to go to the first window where they assess your documents, and register your fingerprint and take your photo for file. The staff will then give you a form where you should pay the corresponding visa fee.

PAYMENT is made thru local currency (PhP) at the current exchange of $223 for adults 15 years and over, and $185 for children under 15.

X-RAY. I was asked to go to the radiology section for my xray. Necklaces will be asked to be removed, so might be a good idea to come without it. Also long hair will be asked to be pulled up, so bring a hair tie. You change into a lab gown, nothing underneath.

BLOOD TEST. Next was blood test; followed by a pregnancy test if you are under 40 or as requested by the doctor.

PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT.
There was a 3-part physical assessment that followed. It was around 9.30 when I got to this stage. First was vital signs where they take your blood pressure. Next your height, weight and clarity of your eyesight. Finally a doctor's assessment, you will be interviewed by a doctor about your medical history (previous pregnancies, hospitalization cases, disease history, current medication); and he/she will do a quick inspection of your body.

FINAL ASSESSMENT. If all your exams are negative for communicable diseases, that is, you're clear of TB, syphilis, etc; and that you have no other psychological instability, ie, suicidal attempts, abortion or previous marriages; then you proceed to the vaccination.
If however you show positive you will be asked to take medication to cure you as doctors order.
For psychological instability, you may be asked to undergo counseling. After these are cleared, you may then proceed.

For me I reached this point after lunch. I was asked to return the following morning for my vaccination. I was released for the day at around 2 pm. I was given a copy of my Original receipt and a summary of the tests I have completed.





For the second day I was asked to arrive by 0900H, I arrived an hour earlier where at the entrance the guard inspected my papers and directed me to the next step.

VACCINATION. Once all tests have been cleared I queue up again for the final step which is to receive the required vaccination.I waited a little over and hour since I arrived. I received three shots. I know of one who had two, another one who got five. It's all dependent on the person and their medical history.

RESULTS. After the administration of the vaccine shots I was asked to wait for my results.
The results will be forwarded directly to the embassy for your interview. You will be given a copy of your vaccine shots and your X-ray image. Keep them and bring them to the US with you as you will be required to show them during your Adjustment of Status AOS.

SOME TIPS FROM ME
- pre register online if you can. it will save you some time and from having to check some documents. Find online registration here: http://www.slec.ph/us/registration//
- wear comfortable, loose, clothes and footwear, as you will be asked to remove/adjust them multiple times. Also there will be a lot of waiting and moving around involved. If you get cold easily, bring a sweater.
- prepare all your documents before coming so that it saves you time sorting through your things.
- be early. Although it's not a guarantee that you will finish in one day (as I did). But as the day progresses the lines become longer, being early gives you a head start.
- don't skip breakfast, there are drinking fountains inside but food isn't allowed. The tests may last the whole day and depending on the flow of the tests you may not have time to leave for food. SLEC states that the Medical tests don't require fasting.
- bring a book or something that will help you pass the time. The wait may be quite excruciating.
- for those with cars (like me) there is a pay-parking area along Roxas Boulevard across the embassy and a short walk from SLEC. For those who need accommodation the nearest hotel is Hotel Soriente (2-3 star) on the same street.
- don't be afraid and be honest. This test will be for your own good anyway and the doctors are nice and will help cure you if there's any negative findings.

- if you're an out-going person, try to chat with other applicants, you might just learn from their experiences

For more information please visit SLEC's website: http://www.slec.ph/us-visa-applicants.shtml#required-docs

Address and full contact details of SLEC here: http://www.slec.ph/contact-us.php

At last... Petition for Fiancee Approved

This is my first entry about this ... I'm very very happy - ecstatic is the more apt description if only words can describe it... a couple of days ago I just came back from Manila to the Maldives. Said yet another painful "see-you-soon" to the love of my life. The woes of a Long Distance Relationship (LDR).

The flight back was long and exhausting - not to mention delayed and frustrating. As if to add insult to the injury of a broken heart.

To better understand, let's backtrack to 4 and a half months ago. April 8, 2013. The love of my life, we'll call him "Tiger", during our vacation in Bali Indonesia, after a year and 9 months, 5 countries, 15 dives, 6 trips to see each other, God knows how many miles traveled; finally got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. To which I obviously agreed to.

The day after, he presented me with the completed documents for our 129f application - the Petition for a foreign fiance/e. My industrious beau had already filled out all the forms and left the signature for me.
For more information about Fiance/e Visas to the US, please click here

As soon as we bid our "see-you-soon" - with tears in my eyes yet again at the Changi International Airport in Singapore (me going back to the Maldives and him heading back home to Hawai'i), he filed our documents to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox facility.

We received the first notification (NOA1) within a week that our application has been received, that was around April 25. Between that time and now.. it just has been a long dreadful wait. Until a couple of days ago.

Yet another dreadful "see-you-soon", this time coming from Manila, with my Tiger heading to Japan. After two weeks of vacationing and diving together, my heart is just filled with longing. And just as separation anxiety and depression started to kick in, after a wait of 4 months and 3 days, I received the most wonderfully unexpected email from Tiger. Our petition has been approved! Thank God, His timing is always perfect!

Tiger will be in Japan for the next 3 weeks, he will not be able to check his mail yet. He will be calling them to see what they can give him while he's away, in another week he will call the National Visa Center (NVC) to check if our case has a Manila Case Number (MCN) and has been forwarded to the Embassy in Manila already. In the meantime, I start to prepare the other documents I know I will need when I finally go for my  interview.

One of the important documents required for an immigrant applicant is a Police Certificate from a country where one have stayed for more than 6 months, after the age of 16.
I have been a working resident of the Maldives since September 2011, and for anyone who has this same case you may find more information about application for Maldivian Police Certificate here.

The journey goes on...

what is a perfect relationship

I have had a few relationships before.. obviously they all have failed for one reason or another. now I'm not exactly as young as I used to be, mid 20s; not as radical too. I am in a relationship where I am happy about almost everything we have. We live apart - that part sucks - he lives somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean whereas I live somewhere in the Indian Ocean but ours is an amazing experience.

Though it's been 3 months since I last saw him everyday seems to be more interesting. We make each other laugh like crazy, we fight like mad that I have cried myself to tears at times - but we never stay astranged towards each other. We play trivia games on skype, I tell him about my dives and he shows me what masterpiece he cooks - and everyday seems to be something new.

My life isn't extra ordinary but his presence in my life makes it special. I never knew this feeling could ever exist. I'm glad I finally was blessed with this experience.

Bienvenue ... voila ma vie aujourd'hui

So this is my new blog... I guess because this marks a new chapter in my life... I just resigned from a five-year stint in my comfort zone, in the beautiful Hyatt Manila... and now moving to a much challenging and more diverse Maldives. My journey begins here.

Over a month too, just as I was about to resign, I started dating this amazing guy, David. David and I met thru some friends and he was staying at the Hyatt. We went on a day trip with our friends Rem and Chris at Villa Escudero in the province of Quezon and that was when magic was cast upon us. I cannot explain how but in this oddly magical place in the middle of nowhere, David and I seem to have found meaning in each other's lives. In this raft ride, in the midst of this serene rain forest, he said much later, was the time he started to feel it for me. Being caught in this bizarre, almost fantastical place, I would not be surprised why.

For me David is anything but the ordinary. He comes from a completely different world than where I grew accustomed to, yet we have a lot of things in common. We bring to our conversation table tons of interesting stories that makes us different, yet this amuses the other. He talks a lot, and I love hearing everything he has to say about his colorful life - he may think sometimes he talks a little too much... but I enjoy every word his beautiful mind conveys.

David on top of everything else that makes him special, is the sweetest person I have ever met. He has never failed to make my heart flutter on a daily basis. I have a surreal feeling washing over me everyday that I speak to him or whenever I am with him.

It is unfortunate that there is an ocean in between us, and another one more in a couple of days. This does not stop us though. This is just the beginning for David and Nastassja. I love this guy so much.