So, it's been about 3 months since my last blog entry and A LOT has happened since then. That being said, there will be 2 sections to this post: 1) conclusion of the Criminal Rehab saga and 2) adventures of immigration medical exams. I will do another blog entry solely on how to build a permanent residency application. So without further adieu, let's get on with the show... (warning, lots of dry material ahead).
Criminal Rehabilitation: The Conclusion
So, in my last entry I told you about our journey to the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel port of entry to submit my application for Criminal Rehabilitation. You may recall that we had to request a refund for our online "pre-payment" of the application fee since they required us to make the payment in person. Well, we had no idea how long it would take to get a refund, but to our surprise, it only took about 2 weeks to receive (during the holidays, too!).
You may also recall that the CBSA officer advised us that we could expect to receive a response in 6 - 8 weeks of submitting my application for Criminal Rehabilitation; he was spot on! We submitted my application on December 18, 2015 and I received a response (via e-mail) on February 21, 2016. I was APPROVED!!
The Chief of Operations for the Detroit-Windsor tunnel sent me a very nice email letting me know that she had approved my application, that she had attached an unsigned copy of my approval letter, and that she had mailed me a signed copy via snail-mail (which I received on February 26). I pretty much immediately started planning my next visit to Canada to visit my husband, our family, and friends as soon as I received my approval letter in the mail. By this time our application for Permanent Residency was pretty much complete. All we had left to do was pay our application fees online and get my medical exam.
Adventures of Immigration Medical Exams
Chapter One: Making the Appointment
I decided to do an "upfront" medical exam, which means that I had my exam done before mailing in my application. Some people choose to wait for CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) to request it. An upfront medical is typically more beneficial for people who are applying for Outland Sponsorship (meaning the sponsored person lives outside of Canada) because it prevents a delay in processing the application. People who apply for Inland sponsorship (meaning those living in Canada) usually wait for CIC to request the medical exam because Inland Sponsorship applications take longer for CIC to process (sometimes 2 or more years) and medical exams expire after 365 days. Nobody wants to pay for a second medical exam unless they have to.
Everyone who wants to immigrate to Canada has to have medical exam and only panel physicians approved by "Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada" can do them. You can go to this link to get a list of Approved Panel Physicians . Be aware that some States in the US do not have a single physician approved by Canada to perform the immigration medical exams, so you might have to travel. Also, the physicians DO NOT accept insurance for the exam; expect to pay full price out of pocket. That being said, I decided to call around to see which physician closest to me had the best price. I called physicians in Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. The cheapest price I found was around $400.00 USD. That includes blood tests for HIV and Syphilis, X-Ray for Tuberculosis, a urine test, and a physical exam by the doctor (mainly just listening to heart and lungs, checking abdomen for any abnormalities, and the doctor discussing your medical history).
Since I was already planning to go to Canada in March for my 1 year wedding anniversary, I decided to ask my husband to call some of the panel physicians in Montreal to see how much they charge for the exam ( there are like 12 doctors there!). We found Medisys which charged $254 CAD (about $190 USD) including taxes. What a deal! So, we decided to schedule an appointment there for March 7, 2016. I was instructed to bring 1 passport size photo (Canadian passport size) to my appointment, along with my passport. I decided to get these done in Canada as well. We got the passport style photos taken/printed at a local pharmacy for $9.99 CAD (about $7.50 USD) for a set of 2. I decided to go ahead and get 3 sets because I needed 4 passport style photos to go with my application for Permanent Residency. So, when all was said and done we paid $34.36 CAD (about $26.00 USD) for 6 photos.
Adventures of Immigration Medical Exams
Chapter Two: The Appointment
When we arrived in Montreal, we found a parking garage near Medisys that charged $16 CAD (about $12.00 USD) for all day parking. Since we couldn't find parking on the street, we decided to park in the lot so that we were not late for my appointment. After a short walk, we arrived at the medical office and were greeted by a very friendly receptionist.
(for folks who never have never watched The Office, this is not her)
I gave her my passport (which she made a copy of and returned) and passport photo as requested. She gave me the forms that I needed to fill out, as well as a cup for the urine sample. I completed the urine sample first and then completed the medical forms, which mainly asked about my medical history.
Next, I had my physical exam with the doctor. He was very friendly and explained to me what CIC was looking for in the medical exam; basically things that may be a burden to their medical system (i.e. cancer, heart disease, diabetes; things that require life long medical treatment). He then listened to my lungs and heart, looked inside my mouth/throat, and palpated my abdomen feeling for anything out of the ordinary and anything that may have caused me pain. After the short exam, he told me everything looked good and sent me back to the waiting room.
Next, a nurse took me to a back room where she took my height and weight, had me read an eye chart, gathered a few blood samples, and took my blood pressure. Unfortunately for me, my blood pressure was high. She explained to me that she would take it a second time and if it remained high then I would require further testing (an EKG, another blood test, and my urine would need to be checked for protein) which would cost an additional $80.00 CAD (about $60.00 USD).
So, after a few minutes she took my blood pressure again and it remained high. Because of this, I had to have the EKG and other tests done. After the nurse completed the EKG she sent me back to the waiting room.
After sitting in the waiting room for a few minutes, an X-ray technician brought me back to another room to have my chest x-ray completed. The chest x-ray is preformed to check for tuberculosis. She was very nice and preformed the x-ray quickly. After checking to make sure the x-ray developed properly, I returned to the receptionist desk with a slip of paper letting her know that I had completed the X-ray. I took a seat with my husband and waited for her to gather all of the documents from the tests I had taken that day. She called me back up and then took my picture to add to my file. I paid for the exam, which totaled $334.00 CAD (about $250.00 USD). She gave me a receipt and told me that I would receive an email in a few days containing a "proof of exam completion" document to include in my application for permanent residency.
All in all, it was a very good experience. From start to finish we were in the doctor's office for about about 2 hours. I received the email with the proof of exam completion document on March 14 and we mailed our application the next day. More on that in my next post.
Below is an updated list of costs and the current total amount of money spent on the process thus far.
ITEM COST SENT DELIVERED RECEIVED
FBI Background Check -- $18.00 --- 7/17/2015 ---- 7/22/2015 ---- 10/29/2015
VA Police State Check -- $20.00 --- 7/17/2015 ---- 7/20/2015 ------ 8/13/2015
Fingerprints (#1) ---------- $5.00 ---- 7/17/2015
Postage --------------------- $11.50 --- 7/17/2015
Passport Photos (4) -------- $27.36 --- 7/30/2015
Court Documents ---------- $2.00 ---- 7/30/2015
Passport (booklet) --------- $110.00 -- 8/7/2015 ----- 8/9/2015 ------- 9/15/2015
Postage/Money Order ----- $7.00 ----- 8/7/2015
DMV Driving Record ----- $8.00 ----- 8/7/2015
Fingerprints (#2) ----------- $10.00 ---- 8/10/2015
FBI Background Check --- $18.00 ---- 8/13/2015 --- 8/17/2015 ------- 11/14/2015
Postage ---------------------- $5.75 ----- 8/13/2015
Criminal Rehabilitation --- $200.00 -- 12/18/2015----- 12/18/2015 ----- 02/21/2016
Application Fee (CAD) or $160 USD
Passport style Photos ----- $34.36 ---- 03/07/2016
(CAD) or $25.87 USD
Medical Exam ------------- $334.00 -- 03/07/2016
(CAD) or $250.00 USD
Current Total = $678.48 USD
Thanks for reading! I hope you find this and future entries helpful!
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