190 Visa Medicals
11 minute read ⌚
After lodging our visas at the end of September, our migration agents were advised to tell us to book our Australian 190 visa medicals as soon as possible.
Knowing that this was the final part of the visa process, we were eager to get them done so we got them booked for October half term.
There are only a handful of panel physicians across the UK who are approved to carry out medicals for the Australian visa process. These are as follows:
- London
- Manchester
- Plymouth
- Maidenhead
- Glasgow
- Edinburgh
We Headed to London
Our nearest doctor was in Knightsbridge, London. As it involved the kids and we wanted to make the experience as stress-free as possible, we decided to book an overnight stay in a hotel and have a couple of nice days with the kids, with the medicals forming part of the trip.
Booking online was a relatively simple process. We used our individual HAP ID (generated once visas are lodged) to book our individual appointments. We then emailed the clinic to explain that we are a family and would like to attend together. They replied quickly to reassure us that this was fine and asked us to arrive for 9:30 am.
Each appointment was paid for at the time of booking and our costings were as follows:
- 2 X adult appointments £720
- 1 X child appointment (with chest X-ray) for our 12 year old £220
- 1 x child appointment £100
A full price list (including different visa requirements) can be found here.
We were asked to take our passports with us, letters from either the hospital or GP to confirm any disabilities or ongoing medical conditions and our prescription glasses and/or contact lenses. We also printed out our HAP IDs to take with us.
190 Visa Medical Process
Upon arrival at an extremely posh building in Knightsbridge, we were welcomed by the receptionist and provided with our own waiting room.
While waiting, I completed paperwork for myself and the two children to confirm that we had submitted truthful information and data as part of the process and my husband signed to confirm his.
A passport-style photograph was taken of each of us and they asked to check our passports whilst we were waiting. Myself, my husband and our son each then had our chest x-rays in turn which were carried out in a side room.
We were asked if we would like anyone to come in with us for these. There was a private place for me to change into a gown on my top half within the room and I was given a clip as some of my hair would have been in the way of the chest X-ray.
These were all over within a matter of minutes. Our Doctor came and introduced himself and explained that he would be seeing all four of us once he had finished with a patient.
My children and I then went in for our medical examinations together. We had to answer some simple questions:
- Are you fit and well?
- Any ongoing medical conditions?
- Do you take any regular medication?
The children went first to have their height and weight measured. They then had a physical examination on the bed which included: listening to their hearts, examining their throats and feeling glands and organs. They kept all clothes except shoes on for this.
My exam was very similar, except for clothing. I don’t know why, but I had decided to wear a pair of dungarees on the day so had to have mine in my t-shirt and pants! Following the exam, I had a blood test which was sent away to detect viruses such as HIV and to check kidney function. The Doctor also checked and recorded my blood pressure.
During the time we were with the Doctor, he was so lovely and kept us all so calm.
He was talking about his own time in Australia (for 21 years) and how he thought we were making a good decision- moving to Adelaide as opposed to Perth, due to its isolated location.
He was also talking to me about the lack of funding in education in the UK and how it must be a really difficult place to be working right now. It was nice to have some of my thoughts and feelings about the UK vs Australia validated by a stranger.
It provided even further clarity that we are making the best decision for our family. My husband went in shortly after me and his examination mirrored that of mine.
He explained that based on our examinations and medical history, there should be no issues whatsoever with our medicals being approved for Australia.
This was so reassuring. As we are using migration agents for our process, we knew that we would not be able to log into our immi account to see any updates for the medicals so we emailed them following the appointment to request that they send us copies of our reports.
I left the appointment wishing that I could afford a private doctor for all of our healthcare as we were all seen on time, within an hour and a half, nothing felt rushed, we had a comfortable waiting room and had time to actually talk to the practitioners.
Little did we know that we would be receiving our visa grants before our medical reports just 5 days later! Our medicals were sent through later that day (3 working days after the medical) so we have a full report of each of our examinations.
190 Visa Medical Top Tips!
My biggest top tips to anyone who is ready for this stage of the process are:
- Be honest about any medical history. I did explain about my history of mental health and a couple of health conditions during pregnancy
- Read through the guidance on the individual practice websites and make sure you either call or email with any queries you have before you visit
- Get there early so that you are not feeling stressed (this could impact your blood pressure)
- Don’t wear dungarees! Frustrating during the examination and they also fell down during my chest X-ray as I was trying to hold them up and clip up my hair at the same time!
- Tie any hair up off your back so that the chest x-ray is as accurate as possible
- Make sure you are hydrated for your blood test so that it doesn’t bruise
