Medical Exam update (India) | Stopping medical appointments until further notice from may 16 onwards.

[Shadow_Man]

IRCC posted recently about stopping medical test in India from may 16 onwards due to covid-19 related concerns. Another sad news for Indians who plan to study/immigrate or such. There is no news on how long they plan to stop it as of now.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1393169131042639873

 

[Shadow_Man]

However it says, upfront medicals. Not sure that means they will provide appointments for people who got medical request in non-sds. So there may be hope for non-sds but there is no official announcement on that too, so will have to wait and see.

 

[fritchou]

i think only upfront. usually they like people to wait for medical request. because they tend to send medical request after applicants pass eligibility. at this point they are back to two stage processing but without aip.

 

[Stringer_Bell_786]

So will SDS files still be processed without Biometrics and medical exams??I was planning to submit SDS file by May end,any chance my file would be processed before August end??

 

[Shadow_Man]

So will SDS files still be processed without Biometrics and medical exams??I was planning to submit SDS file by May end,any chance my file would be processed before August end??

I don't know about medicals, but they do process sds files without biometrics. Just like the last time when they closed vacs, they won't give decision until submitting biometrics. Last time did they accepted sds files without medical?

 

[Stringer_Bell_786]

I don't know about medicals, but they do process sds files without biometrics. Just like the last time when they closed vacs, they won't give decision until submitting biometrics. Last time did they accepted sds files without medical?

I don't know what they implemented last year,but would they still process my file under SDS without medicals and biometrics?

 

[swarapriyan]

I have retweeted about asking Non-SDS situation of Medical test, will update if they answer.

 

[imisstraveling]

It's a well appreciated move. Our health workers are already overwhelmed by the workload. They are only stopping UPFRONT, not after they have requested your to get medical done.

 

[Stringer_Bell_786]

It's a well appreciated move. Our health workers are already overwhelmed by the workload. They are only stopping UPFRONT, not after they have requested your to get medical done.

so it wont affect processing time that much right?

 

[Shadow_Man]

It's a well appreciated move. Our health workers are already overwhelmed by the workload. They are only stopping UPFRONT, not after they have requested your to get medical done.

I don't necessarily agree to that. Yes the doctors are needed for other covid related cases but it would have been okay in my opinion if they instead reduced the number of physicians for a limited number of appointments for upfront since SDS is required to have that. If they can make it not necessary to provide upfront medical for SDS it would be fine. Then you may wonder people can apply for non-SDS, but not everyone is fortunate enough to provide many financial documentation. I have done my medical and it is passed already so I am not saying it for me. There are still other students who have more chances of approval if they submit via SDS stream. So again they could have provided limited appointments and/or limit physicians at a time. Just my opinion.

 

[imisstraveling]

I don't necessarily agree to that. Yes the doctors are needed for other covid related cases but it would have been okay in my opinion if they instead reduced the number of physicians for a limited number of appointments for upfront since SDS is required to have that. If they can make it not necessary to provide upfront medical for SDS it would be fine. Then you may wonder people can apply for non-SDS, but not everyone is fortunate enough to provide many financial documentation. I have done my medical and it is passed already so I am not saying it for me. There are still other students who have more chances of approval if they submit via SDS stream. So again they could have provided limited appointments and/or limit physicians at a time. Just my opinion.

Yes, I agree that in this case, they should let SDS applicants submit their application without upfront medical.

 

[fritchou]

Yes, I agree that in this case, they should let SDS applicants submit their application without upfront medical.

from my humble perspective they should remove this upfrontal medical and only ask medical later on in applications. it kinda doesn't make sense for me to do medicals and u don't know if they will accept you or not. 2 stages processing was good. IRCC have problem with backlogs of medicals. and they take weeks to process. so waiting medical request is for me the ideal way to deal with this issue especially in pandemic where the health sector is ovreloaded

 

[canuck78]

I assume IRCC deemed the risk is to great to ask people to do medicals and require physicians to exam people especially since very little processing or stamping is happening in India. I would assume most people wouldn’t risk going to a medical office at the moment unless it is an emergency.

 

[Shadow_Man]

I assume IRCC deemed the risk is to great to ask people to do medicals and require physicians to exam people especially since very little processing or stamping is happening in India. I would assume most people wouldn’t risk going to a medical office at the moment unless it is an emergency.

They should have then removed the upfront medical requirement from sds. Then it would be fair.

 

[NamanMehta936]

Hi, do you think we could attach a Letter of Explanation stating that the upfront medical examination was suspended? It's not our fault, right? I have been under the impression that SDS applications are reviewed favourably. I am in the process of getting GIC and tuition for first year done, and my IELSTS is overall 8 bands. Or should I just apply under non-SDS?