The Waiting Game

Well, I had the medical exam for the 457 visa and it went relatively well. First I had to check in with the receptionist who prepares all the forms that will be needed, and affixes several of my passport photos I was required to bring to these forms as they are used for identification to make sure the right person is showing up for the various portions. Then I was brought in to see the doctor. The medical exam was fairly short, with just some regular poking and prodding - listen to my lungs, test my reflexes, look in my ears, eyes, and throat, feel the neck for lumps, height, weight, go through any medications I was on, and then check my blood pressure. That's where we stumbled slightly. The first reading was pretty high, but she recognized I was a little stressed out about the medical - it had been looking like the only real hurdle, and such an unknown as I had no idea what to expect. So we left the BP alone for a bit and continued the exam, and tried again - too high, but significantly lower than the first one and still not a pass. So she suggested that I lay down on the exam table, she turned out the lights and told me to relax. Just as she left the room, Eric Clapton came on the radio just outside the door somewhere and so I went to my happy place - he was playing a tune he played in concert last month. By the time the doc came back into the exam room 5 minutes later, I was well rested, and my blood pressure was normal and within the acceptable range. Phew. And I paid $150 for this pleasure.

So the exam went well enough with no failures. Then it was time to head to the lab a block away. There I took a number and waited just a short time to be shown into the lab rooms where the tech took my blood, and then I had to pee in the cup (oh joy). I was about to leave when they noticed there was another blood test the doctor ordered that they just noticed and needed me to pay MORE money for. The first lot was $60, and now I had to pay another $40 AND get another needle stick...great. Let's get it done.

From there I went down the hall to the x-ray lab and checked in. This was a bit longer of a wait as there were peeps in front of me, but before long, I was shown in, and told I was the last x-ray of the day. Great, just made it. I was just getting dressed again when the receptionist noticed I had the wrong forms. The gal at the doctor's office had given me immigration forms for CANADA. I am not emigrating to CANADA. I am emigrating to AUSTRALIA. So panic set in - the doc's office is ONLY open on Thursday afternoons and Thursday afternoon was pretty much over. She tried to call the doc's office several times, but the phone was busy. Finally got through and she attempted to explain to her the forms were the wrong ones. She agreed for me to head back over, get the right forms, but then I would have to come back to the respective labs in the morning with the right immigration forms. Great - now I have to stay in town as I am not driving home only to come back again in the morning. So I went over to the doc's office where the receptionist could not figure out why the were the wrong forms. I helped her with that. See the Canadian flag and the words "Citizenship and Immigration Canada"? This is incorrect. We need to use forms that say "Australian Government - Department of Immigration and Citizenship". I should have checked when she handed me the forms, but the lab slips were stapled to the top, a map to the back, and I assumed she knew what she was doing since I was paying so much for it. Apparently not. So we got the right forms, signed, stamped, passport photos attached, and I was on my way.

I stayed the night with friends in Victoria, and in the morning took the correct forms to the labs and THEN I was finished. Now becomes the waiting game. I have nothing left to add to the visa application, so it is just a matter of time. The doc seemed to think that it would take 3 weeks to get the lab and x-ray results back to her and then she would send the whole package off to the Australian Embassy in Ottawa via X-presspost, and from there it would go by diplomatic pouch to Australia. However, the receptionist at the x-ray dept told me the info is usually ready within a week and a half or so, not 3 weeks. We shall see. At the earliest, maybe by the second week in April is my guess, and more likely to be towards the end of April. Which is not a big deal - my lease here at the cabin is up at the end of April. If I still don't have my visa by then, I'll probably hang with some friends in Victoria for a week or two while I wait.

So that is all that is left to do - wait.