When should I do the medical exam and how long is it valid?
Key answer
Community answers
The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.
Check with the MMC where you plan to go, but usually they schedule you after the interview invitation. There is no point in going significantly in advance: if someone goes through the MMC earlier and the interview is scheduled for a few months later, they will have to leave within 1-2 months after the interview because the validity of the medical examination expires.
You must enter the USA within 6 months of the date the MMC is issued. You can enter up to the last day, but we strongly advise against doing so - a week before expiration is fine.
New rules have come into effect this year: usually, the visa is issued for the duration of the medical examination. But since this is a new development, some may not be aware, some paperwork may not have been updated, and so on. There will be many pitfalls; the bureaucracy is quite challenging everywhere.
Usually, blood tests for adults took 3 working days, and the results from the MMC take just as long. If something needs to be completed, it can take longer due to additional analyses; children also usually take a bit longer. Expect the same 5 working days, not counting the day of the medical examination.
The answers are anonymized community experience from the public chats, not legal advice. Officers may decide similar cases differently.
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Related on this site
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A reference page built from community experience, not legal advice. Requirements and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.
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