Medical Exam Question and DS156 Question

[totup]

I'm wondering if anyone has had the following "problem" with their fiancee's medical exam in china. My fiancee and her son went to the Beijing International SOS Clinic for exams for their K1/K2 Visa's. The forms sent by Guangzhou for the interview date stipulated that this would cost $130 for my fiancee and $110 for her son. The Clinic, however, charged them a total of 2120 RMB (about $268). In addition to this they were sent to a different hospital to get X-rays which cost a total of 832 RMB (about $105). This was a total of $373 rather than the expected $240. I had sent my fiancee money to cover all expenses so good thing she had enough to pay for it all. I'm wondering if anyone ever had to reschedule because the fiancee did not bring enough money with her. My fiancee says this is how the china "government" works so she was not surprised. Also, when my fiancee went to the bank in Beijing to pay for the actual visa's the clerk told her that she needs to fill out a DS156 form online. The interview package from Guangzhou sent her hard copies of this form and said nothing about doing this online. I had read somewhere that there was an online form but was not sure if she was to fill out that one so we just waited for the interview information to come in the mail. I'm pretty sure she does not have to fill out anything online (maybe others must do this for other types of visa's) but am wondering if anyone can verify this. Thanks.

[Randy W]

Sounds like the insurance companies in the US - anything beyond a standard and "Reasonable" fee is the responsibility of the patient.

 

Also in the US, many K-1's are charged for a second medical exam even if the first (in China) is less than a year old.

 

I've heard of people who had filled out the online form being required to fill out a hard copy, but not the other way around.

 

GUZ tries to keep the hospitals up to date on policy, but is not always successful.

Edited October 24, 2006 by Randy W (see edit history)

[mama bear]

I did medicial exam in Beijing International Medical Center

,here is my report invery details:

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...c=20910&hl=

For the exam it took me 200us$ for both of me and my daughter.

About the form, youdon'tneed the onlineone, it is for other type of visa who can interview in Beijing embassy.

[LeeFisher3]

We paid the $110 for our son at the International SOS clinic in Beijing, but he was too young to have an x-ray done so I don't know if there is a difference.

 

You could email them from their web site International SOS Beijing and put Attn: Frank Cui in the subject line. He is one of the people who operate the clinic and could tell you if this is normal.

 

This is the first time I have heard of someone in China suggesting the DS-156 form on line, some of the hospitals have been refusing them. The link is DS-156, but GZ will accept either the hard copy sent to her or the printed version of the one completed on the web from this link.

 

Your fianc¨¦e would need to use a computer that has either an ink jet or laser printer when she completes the on line form so she can print out the bar coded version.

Edited October 25, 2006 by LeeFisher3 (see edit history)

[SirLancelot]

I'm wondering if anyone has had the following "problem" with their fiancee's medical exam in china. My fiancee and her son went to the Beijing International SOS Clinic for exams for their K1/K2 Visa's. The forms sent by Guangzhou for the interview date stipulated that this would cost $130 for my fiancee and $110 for her son. The Clinic, however, charged them a total of 2120 RMB (about $268). In addition to this they were sent to a different hospital to get X-rays which cost a total of 832 RMB (about $105). This was a total of $373 rather than the expected $240.

 

 

Interesting. I can imagine that the $240 vs $268 is due to currency exchange differences. At the extreme pressuring of the US government, China has indeed acquiesced and allowed their currency to float higher verse the USD. I suspect the original calculation used 8.20 exchange rate and the current exchange rate is 7.75.

 

The second part about paying extra for x-rays doesn't sound right. They should be included with the medical exam.