I've searched for past threads that might help me with this, but couldn't find anything (or, at least, the search didn't cough it up).
My husband's AOS interview is March 9th. I checked where the nearest "approved" doctor was and called there...he also happens to be the director of our county's health department. They said if we didn't need the physical exam (which we don't, since my husband's exam in his home country--Turkey--for the K-1 visa was less than a year ago), then we should just come to the county health department to get the supplemental vaccinations.
He of course has no records of his medical exam because it was turned in to the U.S. Consulate in Turkey before his interview there. So he called the doctor who gave him the exam in Turkey and asked which vaccinations she had given him there.
Today we went to the health department for the supplemental shots. We told them which ones he had last summer, then they checked their "age guidelines" chart to see which others he still needed. It was just two: chicken pox and the TB test. The guy who administered the shot/test was helpful and said he does this all the time for immigrants, and he was very friendly with my husband. As he was about to shoo us out the door, I asked about getting the form (the supplement to I-693) filled out and signed, but he said all they would do is give us an "official record" of what immunizations they had administered. I mentioned the approved doc's name, which he of course knew because he's the director of the department...but he said the only way that doc would sign anything is if he performed a medical exam. We need to go back to the office on Friday to find the results of the TB test, so I need to know what's what and what I should do when we go back...
If my husband had the medical exam in Turkey and it's still valid so he doesn't need another one, what do we need to bring to the AOS interview to verify that he's had the supplement immunizations that he didn't have in Turkey? If the only thing the AOS officer will accept is the "Supplemental Form to I-693" but the health department won't fill that out, what do we do?
If they will fill it out, they have no written record of my husband's previous shots (just the verbal info he gave them via his Turkish doctor), so how can they fill out the form completely (it asks for vaccine history transferred from written record)? Also, the form says "To be completed [and signed] by civil surgeon only"...if the only way to get the actual guy to sign it is to have an unnecessary medical exam, would the AOS officer accept the supplemental form if someone else at the health department signed it (since the civil surgeon is the director of the health department)? If not, then do we have to pay for and go through a medical exam just to get the "official" guy's signature (all he would do is look at the health department's record of the vaccinations, fill in the form, and sign it...he didn't even actually administer the shots)?
Since he's the director of the health department, and since they do these types of immigration immunizations all the time, shouldn't they know if their official record of the vaccinations they gave my husband would be accepted by the AOS officer, without the I-693 supplemental form and/or without the civil surgeon's personal signature anywhere on the record? If I try to argue with them, I'm sure I'll just get "But we do this all the time...."
Helppppppp...
My husband's AOS interview is March 9th. I checked where the nearest "approved" doctor was and called there...he also happens to be the director of our county's health department. They said if we didn't need the physical exam (which we don't, since my husband's exam in his home country--Turkey--for the K-1 visa was less than a year ago), then we should just come to the county health department to get the supplemental vaccinations.
He of course has no records of his medical exam because it was turned in to the U.S. Consulate in Turkey before his interview there. So he called the doctor who gave him the exam in Turkey and asked which vaccinations she had given him there.
Today we went to the health department for the supplemental shots. We told them which ones he had last summer, then they checked their "age guidelines" chart to see which others he still needed. It was just two: chicken pox and the TB test. The guy who administered the shot/test was helpful and said he does this all the time for immigrants, and he was very friendly with my husband. As he was about to shoo us out the door, I asked about getting the form (the supplement to I-693) filled out and signed, but he said all they would do is give us an "official record" of what immunizations they had administered. I mentioned the approved doc's name, which he of course knew because he's the director of the department...but he said the only way that doc would sign anything is if he performed a medical exam. We need to go back to the office on Friday to find the results of the TB test, so I need to know what's what and what I should do when we go back...
If my husband had the medical exam in Turkey and it's still valid so he doesn't need another one, what do we need to bring to the AOS interview to verify that he's had the supplement immunizations that he didn't have in Turkey? If the only thing the AOS officer will accept is the "Supplemental Form to I-693" but the health department won't fill that out, what do we do?
If they will fill it out, they have no written record of my husband's previous shots (just the verbal info he gave them via his Turkish doctor), so how can they fill out the form completely (it asks for vaccine history transferred from written record)? Also, the form says "To be completed [and signed] by civil surgeon only"...if the only way to get the actual guy to sign it is to have an unnecessary medical exam, would the AOS officer accept the supplemental form if someone else at the health department signed it (since the civil surgeon is the director of the health department)? If not, then do we have to pay for and go through a medical exam just to get the "official" guy's signature (all he would do is look at the health department's record of the vaccinations, fill in the form, and sign it...he didn't even actually administer the shots)?
Since he's the director of the health department, and since they do these types of immigration immunizations all the time, shouldn't they know if their official record of the vaccinations they gave my husband would be accepted by the AOS officer, without the I-693 supplemental form and/or without the civil surgeon's personal signature anywhere on the record? If I try to argue with them, I'm sure I'll just get "But we do this all the time...."
Helppppppp...