Urgent Care Unscripted: Ep 4 -Immigration Physicals & the Application Process

Immigration physicals are a critical step in the U.S. citizenship process. Hear from a guest immigration lawyer and AFC provider as they explain the full process and how to prepare.

🩺 Topics Covered: Immigration Physicals (with Lawyer Guest), AFC Urgent Care, West Haven healthcare, walk-in clinic, urgent care tips, patient education, healthcare podcast.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
All right, everyone,welcome back to Urgent Care Unscripted.

(00:02):
I'm Barbara,
an alternate director of operations at AFCUrgent Care in West Haven. Hi.
And this is Mohamed Salah.
And I'm the franchisee of Urgent carein West Haven.
Today we are here to talk aboutimmigration, physical
and how important it isand what role does it play
in the overall immigration process.

(00:25):
Joining us today
we have Kara Hart, a seasonedimmigration lawyer who has been practicing
in Connecticut for over 20 yearswith a deep commitment
to helping families immigrate, basically navigate through the U.S.
immigration system.
Kara specializes in familybased immigration.
Guiding her clients through sponsorship.
All the way through U.S. citizenship.

(00:47):
Welcome, Kara.
We also today have Doctor Felix today.
He's our medical director, and he is alsoour USCIS designated civil surgeon.
Welcome, doctor. Felix.

(01:07):
Thank you. Happy to be here.
I look forward to answering some common
clinical questionsregarding the immigration system.
Awesome. Let's start with the basics.
At what point in the immigration processshould applicants
completetheir immigration physicals? Kara.

(01:42):
I'm a civil servant.
Can easily be found online via the,
USCIS search option.
And basically a civil surgeon,an experienced physician,
at least four years downthe Goshen application process.
And we are, designated the responsibilityto complete the Isaac's name to,
to ensure that an immigrant is,

(02:05):
medically able to,
enter the United States or remainin the United States.
Awesome.
And, question for, Kara, when the process starts,
how does the actual applicationof the Isaac's entry form happen?
What does the applicant do at that point?

(02:49):
At AFC Urgent Care, we have designated
immigration process to be smoothand straightforward for applicant.
So, doctor Felix, can you explain to us
what kind of testswe do during these applications?
So we first consider what
the immigration physicalis supposed to do.
In general, it protects the US population

(03:11):
from infectious, contagious disease.
So a good part of it has to do with,you know, building those out,
making sure the individualhas the appropriate vaccinations.
And does it have signs?
Let's see, I uses, syphilis and such.
That information is,

(03:32):
very easily,available on the USGS website.
They can see all the requirementsin terms of vaccinations,
you know, seasonal flu vaccinationrequires.
Covid is no longer required.
But several vaccinations,depending on your age
and screening for packets for two dosescan be a syphilis, depending on your age.

(03:55):
As well as a physical examto ensure there's no signs of
active illness.
Are there any recent changesin the policy of immigration that.
Cara, you can elaborate to us about.
Change in.

(04:24):
Senator Felix, I have a question for youin regarding to the application,
you've mentioned that patientsdo require to get some vaccines done.
What happensif they don't have those records?
So we can do a medical screening
for titers, actually do lab tests to testwhether or not
you have sufficient antibodiesthat will be done in the room.

(04:47):
And if they aren't, you, gettingthose vaccinations would not be required.
You know, oftentimespeople come from other countries and,
you know, records are incomplete. You,
which sometimes in a different language.
And it's importantto do an English translation of records
because the, so we're searching for
the authors should be responsible for

(05:10):
understandingwhat the, origin vaccinations are.
Barbara, from Francis perspective,we often hear, clients
or patientscoming in for the patient physical,
and they're in a rush becausethey have come to us in the last minute.
Yes. And,although the process could take 3 to
4 weeks now,they want to do that as soon as possible.

(05:31):
What kind of, patients do to makethe process really go as fast as possible?
How can they prepare themselvesand help make the process faster?
Absolutely.
So making sure you haveall of your medical records
ahead of time is a great wayto speed that process.
Unfortunately, that can't be truefor every single patient.
So what we do have, to do it

(05:53):
at the clinic, like Doctor Felix said, iswe have to do the titers for the patient.
So there are some blood worksthat just take longer.
And if you want to eliminate that,we can always give the patients
a booster vaccine just to make sure thatthey are up to date with their vaccines.
As long as the medical provider,Doctor Felix in this case is an agree

(06:14):
agreed with, thatAnd then there are the also, places
where people go for immigration, physicalthat do not always have
an English, immigrationphysical surgeon on site.
Those,in, concern for people who are applying
Well, the USCIS website liststhe civil surgeons.

(06:35):
You have to make sure they actually beseen by who search of record.
That would be a
problem both for the applicantand for the civil surgeon.
There's an annual certification,you know, checking process.
So the substance of the sign,the paperwork,
that signature has to bethe civil search is not someone else's.

(06:58):
And, you know, there could be other issuesdown the line, but in general,
want to make sure that the person signingan exam is the actual signature.
I think Kara, for, also for this episode, you had some,
final, points that you wanted, all ofour listeners to, be careful about.
And be mindfulof as they go through the process.

(07:19):
If you want to expand on your,summary piece.

(07:49):
That's great.
And just with that,
would you advise, peoplethat are eligible to apply right away?

(08:15):
How long does the process typically take?
From start to finish?

(08:37):
One thing I would add
is the process, for the immigrationphysical, can be fairly quick.
That would require at least two visits.
One, because a quantum field test,which is a blood test
for tuberculosis,has to be done on every patient.
And that would require a waittime to get those results.
And then the subsequent visit,after for the description

(09:00):
and to ensure that there's not being,positive on that testing.
And if it were positive,give me a chest X-ray done as well.
So it's always at least two visitsfor the patient is good.
But that can be, you know, the secondvisit could potentially be, some days.
So we apart.
is it important for the patientsor your clients doctor care.

(09:20):
Scary to provide all documentationfor their applications.
Right away.
Or should they kind of gather that as, asthey go through the application process?
You need to.

(09:51):
This has been so valuable,and I'm sure our patients
would really appreciate, us going throughthat immigration process for them.
And thank you for, all thank you, Karen,and thank you
all to our viewersfor watching this episode.
We welcome you to Urgent Care Unscripted,
and please subscribe and look forwardto our next episode coming soon.

(10:11):
And if you have any questions, feel freeto send us those questions.
You can email us at West Haven team at AFCUrgent care.com.
And you can also come visit us at 350for Sawmill Road in West Haven.
Like we mentioned before,
we do immigration physicals hereand you can get it done starting today.
So there's no need to wait with us.

(10:32):
Thank you.
Take care of us.