Vaccine Documentation Required...

carlcon

I'm currently in the process of changing my status from visitor to permanent resident in America. Just when I finally thought I had it all sorted (after marriage, about 8 separate forms, and all sorts of other problems) I realised I stupidly missed the medical examination form. I thought that was something I did after sending the rest, but no harm, I haven't sent in any forms yet, so I'm not in trouble (yet).

The problem now is that my VWP expires in a little over 2 weeks, and I've just discovered I need to have vaccination records before I get the medical. I called the folks back home, who do not have any records of that kept, so I'm basically trying to figure out where they need to go (or what I need to do) to get them ASAP.

They're going to call the family GP on Monday morning in hope that he has the info and access to the correct documents, but I don't want to rely on that working out.

Since getting the vaccinations, I've also had a name change, so I'm worried that even if such documents do exist, they'll have my old surname (my parents didn't get married until later in life) which probably won't be of any use. My birth cert now has the current name, so I figure any new vaccination records *should* also have the correct name, but with the American visa folk being so strict and picky, I'm just considering the worst case scenario with this one final thing I need.

So I guess I have two questions:
How does one find their vaccination records if their GP doesn't have them?

And should this take too long, am I in trouble going over the 90days before sending the forms? (I understand this would mean I would no longer be able to avail of the VWP in future, but I don't fear that since I'm certain there's no reason for them to not grant the visa since I am in a very above-board marriage).

Oh and I guess a third question: Is there any chance I can get the medical examination done without the records, and just send them in later?

Thanks to all in advance.

silja

1. Your GP should have them, or if he retired, maybe he handed over to someone. If not, try your local Health Board. Name change should not matter as long as you have a legal document of the name change.
2. No-ish. Technically, if you get caught by police during a traffic stop or something they could take you into custody pending deportation but that is extremely unlikely.
3. No. BUT, you could just get the vaccines done again by the Civil Surgeon in the US that does the medical.

carlcon

Thanks for that. I changed GP when I moved home in Ireland about 10 years ago, which is why I'm not certain he'll have the info. Then my parents tell me that back when I got my shots, it wasn't the GP who did it, but nurses... whatever that means.

Chances are I'll probably have to get them again, which isn't something I was sure I could do, so that's comforting to know, along with knowing that it's not the end of the world if the process isn't complete by the time my VWP is up.

silja

Yeah it'll cost extra if you need to get them again, and some people don't like it, but I know several people who had to and had no ill effects.

carlcon

Update for anyone else who may have similar needs:

The local clinic where I was born claims to have "some of the info". That's probably not going to cut it. The next step, they said, was to call the "HSE Archives". They have told my parents it would take about 2 weeks, but my parents told them it was urgent, so they'll see what they can do. They took phone number and email address from my parents so we're waiting to see what happens.

When the next step happens, I'll update again.

Key points: Contact the clinic/hospital where you were immunised first. If they don't have it, the HSE Archives is the place to go.

carlcon

Received everything I needed about 2 days ago. All went more smoothly than anticipated. So yeah, everything mentioned above is more than enough to get those vaccination records sorted if you need them.