Well if not, you need to get them…
Here’s another tip from me to you: the medical certificate will be dated for the time when you actually see the doctor, not from the time you actually get all results in. This is a pretty simple one to figure out. So simple, I can’t believe my thought process going into it.
I knew that I was seeing my doctor in time. I had an appointment on 9/21 and I was leaving on 12/26. I was told that the certificate was only good for three months, but I would be submitting my paperwork for my visa in October, so it shouldn’t be a problem right? Well. The well-intentioned desk clerk kept reminding me that the certificate was only valid for three months. She must have said this about five times that day. Also she kept saying, “I’ll send out your certificate when I receive your test results”
(JFYI if you decided to see a doctor approved by the Belgium consulate you have to pay out of pocket and the fees range from $250-$500. You can save money by getting everything done under your insurance and getting the letter notarized)
Where was I? Oh yes “…test results…”. So I got scared and thought that I should wait. The clerk would send the certificate when I got all my results in, right? Not exactly. I saw the doctor on 9/21. So even though my results were finally sent on 10/21, my certificate was still dated for…9/21. That’s right, no dates had changed.
So, what’s the moral of this story? I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when I get my visa. Otherwise the moral is: don’t be like me.
JFYI the fingerprinting was a breeze. All I needed was a cashier’s check from my bank (they don’t take personal checks), my fingerprints obtained by a notary public down the street, and a letter requesting my record. It took about three weeks to get my results, but I anticipated around 12 weeks. So nice to get that over and done with.
Anyway, will keep you posted about the visa status. My current concern is the amount of money in my savings. Do I ask my parents to be my “financial support”? I’m a self-sufficient woman, so I’m not totally certain, but I know I don’t have $12,000 (6,000 per year) saved up. Yikes!
Filed under: belgium, moving | 2 Comments
Tags: financial support, financial support declaration, fingerprinting, medical certificate, notary public, UGent
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Keep in mind the exchange rate too. Right now it’s around 1.3 USD to 1 €.
Oh and you may want to bring a qwerty keyboard. They use azerty here and it took me a few months to get used to it…so if you have room to bring one you’re familiar with, that’s a small stress reliever.
Good call! There’s so much to bring and remember. I’m a little overwhelmed by it all.