Outland application - when to send medical

[Lucy M]

I've been advised to apply through the Outland route for PR (spousal) as it is faster than Inland presently. My question relates to the medical. I am currently 9 weeks pregnant. The approved medical offices in Edmonton (where my husband and I are living) are only taking appointments for July right now. I've already paid my fee for the application (the full $1,040) so I could have the receipt to present at the border when my husband and I returned to Canada after a year of travel, and could get a Visitor Record, which fortunately entitles me to health care in Alberta. I am keen to submit my PR application as soon as possible, and was choosing Outland as it is faster. However, with Outland, can I submit the application without the medical and wait for it to be requested? I had heard that many people were doing this with inland applications as by the time their application is reviewed the medical is outdated otherwise and they have to do it again anyway. Any advice appreciated.
Thanks,
Lucy

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Do the medical first, but not the chest xray. Include a note stating you are pregnant and cannot do the xray. Once you give birth, get the xray done and then email CIC to let them know.

 

[kettle]

I've been advised to apply through the Outland route for PR (spousal) as it is faster than Inland presently. My question relates to the medical. I am currently 9 weeks pregnant. The approved medical offices in Edmonton (where my husband and I are living) are only taking appointments for July right now. I've already paid my fee for the application (the full $1,040) so I could have the receipt to present at the border when my husband and I returned to Canada after a year of travel, and could get a Visitor Record, which fortunately entitles me to health care in Alberta. I am keen to submit my PR application as soon as possible, and was choosing Outland as it is faster. However, with Outland, can I submit the application without the medical and wait for it to be requested? I had heard that many people were doing this with inland applications as by the time their application is reviewed the medical is outdated otherwise and they have to do it again anyway. Any advice appreciated.
Thanks,
Lucy

It is recommended that you do the medical upfront, it actually appears to be required. I would do the medical prior to submitting personally. When we filed we were incorrectly advised by our immigration consultant to wait for the medical, and did so. I was told on another thread that failing to include our medical could have resulted in our application being returned to us as incomplete. So far with our medicals submitted after they were requested there haven't been any issues, but its too early to tell what kind of delays there might be on our application because of this.

The other thing is that CIC requires the medical within 30 days of their request. I wouldnt want to chance trying to get an appointment within 30 days when you absolutely needed to.

If medicals are booking into July for Edmonton, I would suggest travelling to get one done more quickly in a different city. Calgary comes to mind. There is also one in Lloydminser Sask, North Battleford and Saskatoon (3 clinics there) , all of the cities I listed are (IMO) respectable driving distances.

Bear in mind this is coming from someone living far further North than you who would have had to drive 5+ hours for a medical anyhow.

 

[Lucy M]

Thank you both. I managed to make an appointment in Red Deer at the end of May. I will just have to wait until after then to submit my application. (So glad there is no time limit between paying the fee and sending the application. I hope that's definitely the case. As we paid the fee in February.) They told me they do medicals for pregnant women all the time, and there is no problem, so I am not sure if they still do the chest x-Ray somehow but with extra precautions?
With the medical, if there is any sort of treatment/new prescription recommended does it hold up the application? For example, part of the medical is an eye test and they say to take glasses and contact lenses with you. I'm due an eye test and suspect my eyes have got slightly worse. Should I sort that out before my medical so I have an up to date prescription, or save paying for an eye test twice and just wait and see what they say at the medical?

 

[jb1989]

If you do the research into it, providing they use double shielding for the X-Ray there really isn't anything supporting that it does any damage during pregnancy. The later in the pregnancy the better and obviously it's your personal decision but I asked lots of different opinions from medical professionals and felt confident enough to do the Xray portion at 6 months pregnant..

Weigh up how it would impact things if you delayed it vs did the xray. The stress of having to leave the country/lose my healthcare benefits etc. would have been more damaging than the very small risks associated with the xray for example.