According to Home Office regulations, all applicants in certain countries and regions applying for visas more than six months are required to complete a TB (tuberculosis) screening and the report shall be handed in together with all other application materials. I would like to list some preparations you may be interested in doing before going for the check.
The TB screening can only be done in certain clinics approved by the Home Office (click here to check if there is one near you), hence in most cases, prior appointment is required. From my experience, two or three days in advance is enough.
You need to bring with you:
- Your passport and a photocopy with it (the page with your photo and your signature, on an A4 sheet in China).
- Test fee: if you are over 11 years old, an X-ray screening is required, and the fee is 550RMB in China (you may find it different in other countries, and the values are specified in the links above leading to Home Office website). If you are younger than 11, then no X-ray is required, but the fee remains the same (I do not know why lol)
- Two photographs of yourself, in color, white background and taken within three months.
- Your full residential address (both in English and your own language if it is not English), and your address in UK (do make sure that the post code is correct).
- Your email address.
And you may want to notice that:
- You will be required to give two contact numbers in the appointment (this may vary across different clinics).
- If you are under 16 years old, the company of your legal guardian holding his original copy of his identification document is required.
- The fee will be accepted in cash only (again this may vary).
- Pregnant women are advised to take sputum tests instead (IMPORTANT: the sputum tests require a much longer period to give results, and this may affect your visa application)
- You will be asked to sign on the medical certificate when it is issued to you, and your signature shall be the same as the one on your passport.
Wish all applicants good luck with the TB screening.