Kenyans seeking services from the International Organization for Immigration (IOM) in Nairobi have come out to complain about the poor services, abuse of appointment times, and disorganization they are subjected to when seeking medical tests for immigration purposes.
According to bad reviews and experiences that have gone viral on Kenya’s social media groups, the IOM Kenya testing centre has been forcing people to book appointments that are not followed when people present themselves for medical tests.
Apparently, things have gone so wrong that it is no longer a surprise to arrive at the IOM Kenya testing centre offices at 5am in the morning for a 7am appointment and leave at 6pm in the evening.
“We saw hell in getting the services. Time management was pathetic. I mean pathetic. Appointment time wasn’t honored at all. The queue at the gate was long and no seats available. We had to stand for like 3 to 4 hours non stop in the morning cold,” a Kenyan who identified as Amonde shared.
“Those with (children) under (age of) 5 weren’t spared either. Management should (of the IOM Kenya testing centre) do something. We deserve better than what we went through”.
Another Kenyan shared how the centre disregards the appointments it issues for tests by jamming people without due appointment procedures.
“Why schedule appointments and then we spend a whole day? People with 7am appointments are at the centre by 5.30am to 6.30am only to realize that the queue is long because people with 2pm appointments have also been allowed in at the same 5am time for 7am appointments,” she said.
What follows at the centre is confusion as everyone disregards their appointment timelines in the rush to get served first. “Imagine having a 2 year-old child with a 7am booking only to finish your medical test at 4pm?”
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This was echoed by a Kenyan mother who identified as Janet. She lamented:
“I am tired, irritated, frustrated by IOM immigration health assessment center in Nairobi. Apparently, this is the only place that does medical tests for East Africans going to America and Europe. My problem with this facility is the mediocre level of their service, for which unfortunately we have to bear the brunt.”
Janet added: “Case in point; my daughter had an appointment between 8am and 9am for a TB X-ray. We arrived at 8am on the dot, but this was only to queue. She entered the office at 8.30am and thereafter, I saw her at 2.30 pm.”
“My question is: Why take appointments for 200 people when everyone is delayed? Why charge us over 150 US Dollars for an X-ray and give us mediocre service? This is not value for money! In this day and age, this is absolutely unacceptable.”
At the same time, the staff has been called out for poor services. “The staff, especially at the reception, work like government officials: 8 counters but only 3 are serving. They start operations at between 8.30am and 9.30am.”
“They serve a few and keep leaving their counters, while the queue has nearly 100 people waiting for services. We pay a lot of money for medical examinations and the best they can do is to be more organized and professional!”
Currently, for Canadian immigration, medical examination charges for a family of three (husband, wife and child) are going for as a high as Sh. 105,000. An examination for one person is going for at least Sh. Sh. 41,000.
Booking of appointments has also been a challenge for countries the centre has not provided for online booking such as Canada.
To book a medical exam for Canadian immigration, IOM Nairobi requires that you send an email with a set of documents, after which they determine which date to schedule your exam. This is unlike the medical test for United Kingdom that is booked online.
“I am applying for Australia Visa and I received a medical request from Immigration which I emailed IOM in Gigiri. I am supposed to do the medicals in a few days but it has been two weeks and lamented haven’t gotten an appointment,” another Kenyan waiting for an appointment lamented.