Here is a summary of my medical/interview process for CN 2008OC0000003xx.
Timeline
19/11/07 Varicella vaccination
20/11/07 Medical Checkup
22/11/07 Medical Results received
27/11/07 CP Interview
30/11/07 Visas issued
3/12/07 Passports picked up
4/12/07 Admission into USA as permanent residents
Here is a summary of the process that we encountered, that may help others on the board.
Family Background
- 1 Australian citizen (myself, primary applicant), 1 P.R. China (wife, spouse)
- Married since 2003. 2 US citizen children (not included on DV application)
- Wife and I have been resident in the USA for almost the last 8 years on H1-B work visas, and both have pending employment based green cards also in process (one application in advanced parole, stuck for 2 years in FBI name check black hole).
Medical Checkup
- We had some of our immunizations already, but just to make sure had Titers done for Td, MMR, Varicella etc. We were already in the US, so called our PCP doctor, he created the blood work order, and then we stopped by our local blood test facility and had the test results mailed to us. This was all done without any payment since it is covered by our health insurance. I faxed the results to the Australian interviewing doctor, and the secretary confirmed that I only needed the Varicella vaccine. I had this done in Australia at a doctor’s surgery the day before the medical check, and had it covered by Medicare.
- They ask some pretty “wild” questions on the medical interview. My wife has little patience (I’m the opposite), so to the question “Have you ever thought about killing anyone?”, she replied sarcastically “Not as yet”. The doctor then seriously said, “Is that Yes or No”. My suggestion is just to answer directly and get through the process.
- I had my sister pick up the medical results since it was more convenient that way. Make sure you authorize for the pick up on the day of the medical check.
Hong Kong Police Certificate
- I required this since I had resided there for about 4 years. The Hong Kong police as a policy doesn’t provide police certificates to you directly but will mail them to the consulate. This is against the instructions from KCC, so I emailed the US consulate in Sydney about this. They said this is fine, and for me to tell the Hong Kong police to send it to the US consulate, Immigration Dept, directly.
- 2 weeks before my interview, I emailed the US consulate, and they confirmed that they had received the Hong Kong Police certificate. I saw it in my file when I went for the interview.
CP Interview
- Our appointment was for 8am and we arrived at about 8.10am. There was already a long line of about 20 people at security. However, they called for US citizens to come forward, and since we had our 8 week old US citizen son with us, we were bumped to the front of the queue. We had to provide proof of his citizenship. We were then whisked up to the 59th floor, and obtained ticked number 005. This was at about 8.25am. Unless you have a US citizen with you – arrive earlier than 8am.
- Since I have been to the US consulate multiple times, I knew there could be a wait, so we were armed with some magazines to keep us occupied (highly recommended). At about 10am, our number was called. At window 1, we were asked if our documents were in the correct order, confirmed this, and handed over our documents. The lady noticed that we had a baby, and said that she would try to process our documents quickly – nice. We were then asked to make our payment and wait for her to call us again.
- Our submitted documentation included (from memory), University transcripts, current employment letter for my wife (position, salary, length of time with company), passports, police certificates, marriage certificate, bank, retirement and brokerage statements. We don’t have any other assets (we rent our home, lease our car), no affidavit of support, and I didn’t have a current employment letter (my company doesn’t easily provide one).
- Our unsubmitted backup documentation included (from memory) my current job offer (dated 2004), high school certificate, grad school records, latest pay slips, IRS official tax returns for last 2 years, children’s US birth certificates. These were not called for.
- One slight risk, my wife’s Chinese police certificate was dated 1999 (she last lived there in 1998), but I noted that the first letter instructions said to the effect “Do not request your AUSTRALIAN police certificate until instructed to do so” – nothing about the other police certificates. In hindsight, I may have applied for it as well, but I was out of time by the time I thought about doing this, and my wife said it was a huge hassle (I think you need to request it in person etc.). Luckily, it wasn’t an issue.
- We were shortly called back to window 1, told that our documents were sufficient, except that our Marriage certificate wasn’t the official one. It looked official to me (provided to me by the priest during marriage), but they said they needed the one from the Registry of Births, Death and Marriages. She asked us when we were traveling, we said next week (one week exactly), and she told us to get the marriage certificate to them by Thursday, and that they would try and issue our visa in time. I got the impression that this was just the official line, and that they would do all they can to get us on our way as scheduled. Lucky we were married in Australia and not the US! She said that we could just drop off the certificate on the 10th floor, and bypass security. My wife’s background check was not done by KCC, which she said was unusual, and that they would do it that day and it should come back in 1-2 days. A slight pang of grief came over me – since we were also currently stuck in the name check process on our advanced parole for a green card on our employment based application – and that the same thing would happen again. She then asked us if we were members of any terrorist organization, and were then told to wait for the administrative interview.
- After about 20 minutes, we were called to window 2, the officer took a glance at the three of us, and said our marriage looked legitimate, and sent us on our way. No further questions! It was about 11.30am, and we left to have an early lunch.
- After lunch, we got to the Marriage Registry at about 2pm. There wasn’t really a wait, and I filled out the application ($35 for next day pickup and $55 for same day). Since I had a lunch appointment in the city the next day, I chose next day pickup.
- The next day I picked up the marriage certificate, and took it to the consulate. The security guards on the 10th floor put the certificate in an interoffice envelope with my phone number, and I was on my way. I was called by the Window 1 lady in the afternoon to say that the marriage certificate was in order, and happily, that my wife’s background check had come through successfully – though it was up to an immigration officer to update my file. She told me to expect a call on Friday to pick up our passports.
- Friday morning comes, no call, so I called the consulate around noon. The Window 1 lady says that our visas were ready, and that I could come on Monday to pick them up, or that afternoon if I really wanted. I said Monday, she said between 3.30pm and 4.30pm. I arrived at about 4.15pm on Monday, and was quickly up to the 59th floor. I didn’t see any other applicants any where, since I expect all applications are handled in the morning. Received our passports back from the Window 1 lady, told to check our admission document packets, and I was on my way – finally I could be fully relieved!
Arrival in the United States (San Francisco airport - home)
- As a first good omen of our new PR status, our entire family was upgraded to Business class by United airlines, since Economy class was full. My wife was dreading the 14 hour flight back in Economy with our almost 3 year old and now 10 week old boys. I gave my 3 year old some Benadryl and he was out comfortably for about 9 hours of the flight. The almost flat seat made all the difference in the world. Even with Benadryl, he found it hard to sleep in Economy on the way to Australia – but you do what you can when traveling with kids.
- Upon arrival, we headed to the Citizens and PR queues, but were redirected to the left side of the hall. We had incorrectly lined up. Instead, we should have gone to the far left of the Citizens and PR areas, and lined up where it said “New Immigrants”.
- There was no further wait, and the officer immediately said in a friendly manner, “lottery winners – congratulations”. He then proceeded to open the packets, take our fingerprint and signatures for the green cards, and stamp our visas. He asked us to confirm our addresses (important for mailing of green cards), asked us if we had SS numbers, we said yes, any other questions, we said no – we had lived in the US for 7 years, and we were on our way. From plane to baggage claim was less than 30 minutes!
- The next day (today), we informed our employer HR departments and attorneys of our new PR status, and told them to stop our other green card applications.
In summary, a successful end to our Green Card saga. Difficult to believe that our 5 year green card saga has finally ended. No more filling out I-9s, checking our USCIS status, calling the attorneys etc. The choice of CP over AOS for us was an easy one – even with our low CN number. I highly recommend reviewing “Wikas’s Experience”, and perusing the DV boards for hints on documentation. Its always safer to be better prepared (have a “other documents” folder just in case), and try to prepare all the documentation as early as you can. Also leave a buffer before traveling, just in case you run into some bureaucracy.
Good luck to all other applicants!
Timeline
19/11/07 Varicella vaccination
20/11/07 Medical Checkup
22/11/07 Medical Results received
27/11/07 CP Interview
30/11/07 Visas issued
3/12/07 Passports picked up
4/12/07 Admission into USA as permanent residents
Here is a summary of the process that we encountered, that may help others on the board.
Family Background
- 1 Australian citizen (myself, primary applicant), 1 P.R. China (wife, spouse)
- Married since 2003. 2 US citizen children (not included on DV application)
- Wife and I have been resident in the USA for almost the last 8 years on H1-B work visas, and both have pending employment based green cards also in process (one application in advanced parole, stuck for 2 years in FBI name check black hole).
Medical Checkup
- We had some of our immunizations already, but just to make sure had Titers done for Td, MMR, Varicella etc. We were already in the US, so called our PCP doctor, he created the blood work order, and then we stopped by our local blood test facility and had the test results mailed to us. This was all done without any payment since it is covered by our health insurance. I faxed the results to the Australian interviewing doctor, and the secretary confirmed that I only needed the Varicella vaccine. I had this done in Australia at a doctor’s surgery the day before the medical check, and had it covered by Medicare.
- They ask some pretty “wild” questions on the medical interview. My wife has little patience (I’m the opposite), so to the question “Have you ever thought about killing anyone?”, she replied sarcastically “Not as yet”. The doctor then seriously said, “Is that Yes or No”. My suggestion is just to answer directly and get through the process.
- I had my sister pick up the medical results since it was more convenient that way. Make sure you authorize for the pick up on the day of the medical check.
Hong Kong Police Certificate
- I required this since I had resided there for about 4 years. The Hong Kong police as a policy doesn’t provide police certificates to you directly but will mail them to the consulate. This is against the instructions from KCC, so I emailed the US consulate in Sydney about this. They said this is fine, and for me to tell the Hong Kong police to send it to the US consulate, Immigration Dept, directly.
- 2 weeks before my interview, I emailed the US consulate, and they confirmed that they had received the Hong Kong Police certificate. I saw it in my file when I went for the interview.
CP Interview
- Our appointment was for 8am and we arrived at about 8.10am. There was already a long line of about 20 people at security. However, they called for US citizens to come forward, and since we had our 8 week old US citizen son with us, we were bumped to the front of the queue. We had to provide proof of his citizenship. We were then whisked up to the 59th floor, and obtained ticked number 005. This was at about 8.25am. Unless you have a US citizen with you – arrive earlier than 8am.
- Since I have been to the US consulate multiple times, I knew there could be a wait, so we were armed with some magazines to keep us occupied (highly recommended). At about 10am, our number was called. At window 1, we were asked if our documents were in the correct order, confirmed this, and handed over our documents. The lady noticed that we had a baby, and said that she would try to process our documents quickly – nice. We were then asked to make our payment and wait for her to call us again.
- Our submitted documentation included (from memory), University transcripts, current employment letter for my wife (position, salary, length of time with company), passports, police certificates, marriage certificate, bank, retirement and brokerage statements. We don’t have any other assets (we rent our home, lease our car), no affidavit of support, and I didn’t have a current employment letter (my company doesn’t easily provide one).
- Our unsubmitted backup documentation included (from memory) my current job offer (dated 2004), high school certificate, grad school records, latest pay slips, IRS official tax returns for last 2 years, children’s US birth certificates. These were not called for.
- One slight risk, my wife’s Chinese police certificate was dated 1999 (she last lived there in 1998), but I noted that the first letter instructions said to the effect “Do not request your AUSTRALIAN police certificate until instructed to do so” – nothing about the other police certificates. In hindsight, I may have applied for it as well, but I was out of time by the time I thought about doing this, and my wife said it was a huge hassle (I think you need to request it in person etc.). Luckily, it wasn’t an issue.
- We were shortly called back to window 1, told that our documents were sufficient, except that our Marriage certificate wasn’t the official one. It looked official to me (provided to me by the priest during marriage), but they said they needed the one from the Registry of Births, Death and Marriages. She asked us when we were traveling, we said next week (one week exactly), and she told us to get the marriage certificate to them by Thursday, and that they would try and issue our visa in time. I got the impression that this was just the official line, and that they would do all they can to get us on our way as scheduled. Lucky we were married in Australia and not the US! She said that we could just drop off the certificate on the 10th floor, and bypass security. My wife’s background check was not done by KCC, which she said was unusual, and that they would do it that day and it should come back in 1-2 days. A slight pang of grief came over me – since we were also currently stuck in the name check process on our advanced parole for a green card on our employment based application – and that the same thing would happen again. She then asked us if we were members of any terrorist organization, and were then told to wait for the administrative interview.
- After about 20 minutes, we were called to window 2, the officer took a glance at the three of us, and said our marriage looked legitimate, and sent us on our way. No further questions! It was about 11.30am, and we left to have an early lunch.
- After lunch, we got to the Marriage Registry at about 2pm. There wasn’t really a wait, and I filled out the application ($35 for next day pickup and $55 for same day). Since I had a lunch appointment in the city the next day, I chose next day pickup.
- The next day I picked up the marriage certificate, and took it to the consulate. The security guards on the 10th floor put the certificate in an interoffice envelope with my phone number, and I was on my way. I was called by the Window 1 lady in the afternoon to say that the marriage certificate was in order, and happily, that my wife’s background check had come through successfully – though it was up to an immigration officer to update my file. She told me to expect a call on Friday to pick up our passports.
- Friday morning comes, no call, so I called the consulate around noon. The Window 1 lady says that our visas were ready, and that I could come on Monday to pick them up, or that afternoon if I really wanted. I said Monday, she said between 3.30pm and 4.30pm. I arrived at about 4.15pm on Monday, and was quickly up to the 59th floor. I didn’t see any other applicants any where, since I expect all applications are handled in the morning. Received our passports back from the Window 1 lady, told to check our admission document packets, and I was on my way – finally I could be fully relieved!
Arrival in the United States (San Francisco airport - home)
- As a first good omen of our new PR status, our entire family was upgraded to Business class by United airlines, since Economy class was full. My wife was dreading the 14 hour flight back in Economy with our almost 3 year old and now 10 week old boys. I gave my 3 year old some Benadryl and he was out comfortably for about 9 hours of the flight. The almost flat seat made all the difference in the world. Even with Benadryl, he found it hard to sleep in Economy on the way to Australia – but you do what you can when traveling with kids.
- Upon arrival, we headed to the Citizens and PR queues, but were redirected to the left side of the hall. We had incorrectly lined up. Instead, we should have gone to the far left of the Citizens and PR areas, and lined up where it said “New Immigrants”.
- There was no further wait, and the officer immediately said in a friendly manner, “lottery winners – congratulations”. He then proceeded to open the packets, take our fingerprint and signatures for the green cards, and stamp our visas. He asked us to confirm our addresses (important for mailing of green cards), asked us if we had SS numbers, we said yes, any other questions, we said no – we had lived in the US for 7 years, and we were on our way. From plane to baggage claim was less than 30 minutes!
- The next day (today), we informed our employer HR departments and attorneys of our new PR status, and told them to stop our other green card applications.
In summary, a successful end to our Green Card saga. Difficult to believe that our 5 year green card saga has finally ended. No more filling out I-9s, checking our USCIS status, calling the attorneys etc. The choice of CP over AOS for us was an easy one – even with our low CN number. I highly recommend reviewing “Wikas’s Experience”, and perusing the DV boards for hints on documentation. Its always safer to be better prepared (have a “other documents” folder just in case), and try to prepare all the documentation as early as you can. Also leave a buffer before traveling, just in case you run into some bureaucracy.
Good luck to all other applicants!
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