Processing immigration medical exams (IMEs)
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Processing time
The full IME process, from the date of the appointment until the IME is assessed in the Global Case Management System (GCMS), is typically 30 days or less.
Clients who are issued medical examination instructions (IMM1017 or IMM1020) are required to have a panel physician complete their IME within 30 days of receiving the instructions. According to service standards, panel physicians are required to schedule an appointment within 10 calendar days of being contacted by a client. The panel physician has 10 calendar days from the appointment to submit the results of the IME in the eMedical system (an online application that provides a paperless process for electronic recording and transmission). Once the IME is submitted in eMedical, the IME results are assessed by the Migration Health branch (MHB) or furthered for additional medical information within 4 business days.
When urgent processing is required, migration officers are encouraged to contact the appropriate regional medical office (RMO), which may be able to work with the panel physician to facilitate expedited IME service delivery.
A small number of IMEs are received on paper. Files that are submitted on paper may have a longer delay between the exam date and the date the results are available in GCMS. There may be other factors that cause a delay in assessing IMEs.
Submission of immigration medical exams (IMEs)
Electronic immigration medical examinations (eMedical)
Panel physicians complete the immigration medical examination (IME) and enter the results into eMedical. Once the IME is submitted in eMedical, the results are automatically transferred to the Global Case Management System (GCMS) for assessment.
Note: Panel physicians are unable to submit an incomplete IME through eMedical.
Guidelines for record management using eMedical
- Panel physicians are encouraged to give a copy of the IME to the client, unless it would be injurious to the client’s physical or mental health.
- Panel physicians are required to keep copies and records of files for at least 2 years, or for the minimum retention time for medical documents with their area of jurisdiction.
- If the panel physician plans to print out a copy of the IME, it must be done before submitting the IME through eMedical.
- Once the IME has been submitted through eMedical, there is no way for the panel physician to retrieve it to make a copy.
Paper-based immigration medical examinations
In exceptional cases where the panel physician does not have access to eMedical, submission of paper-based IMEs is accepted. Panel physicians send the original copy of the IME by mail to the responsible RMO. The RMO manually enters the IME results into GCMS.
Guidelines for paper-based immigration medical examination record management
- Original documents and information related to an IME must be sent by post to the responsible RMO.
- Original documents must never be given to the client for delivery to the RMO.
- Panel physicians are encouraged to give a copy of the IME to the client, unless it would be injurious to the client’s physical or mental health.
- Panel physicians are required to keep copies and records of files for at least 2 years in compliance with their local regulatory and licensing requirements.
- Panel physicians should retain tracking numbers for the shipments of IMEs for 6 months.
