GAMCA (Wafid) medical in Pakistan: booking, fee and report check

If you are going to work in a Gulf country, you need a medical examination at an accredited centre in Pakistan before your visa is issued. Many people still call it the GAMCA medical. Today it is booked online through Wafid, the programme of the Gulf Health Council. This guide covers how to book, what it costs, where the centres are and how to check your result.

Who needs it

Wafid covers medical checks for people going to work or live in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen, for work, family and study visas. If you are going on a Saudi work visa or a UAE work visa, your employer or OEP will ask for it.

Qatar: for a Qatar work visa, the medical is done at a Qatar Visa Center (QVC) in Pakistan, together with your biometrics. Check with your employer or OEP which one applies to you.

How to book

1. Go to wafid.com (opens in a new tab) and choose Book an Appointment.
2. Choose your country (Pakistan), your city and the country you are travelling to.
3. Fill in your details and passport information. Wafid sends a code to your email to confirm it.
4. Choose a Standard or Premium appointment and pay by card.
5. You receive a medical examination slip. Go to the medical centre as soon as possible, and take the slip and your passport.

If you lose the slip, print it again from Wafid's Appointment Slips page with your passport number and nationality.

What it costs

• Standard appointment: $10. Wafid assigns you a centre in your city, depending on availability.
• Premium appointment: $25. You choose the centre and the date.

These are Wafid's booking fees, paid by card. No official page lists the amount, in rupees, that centres in Pakistan charge for the examination itself. Ask the centre before you go, pay only at the centre, and get a receipt.

If any of your details are wrong, ask the medical centre to send a change request to Wafid. It is free, and you should not pay anything for it.

Where the centres are

Wafid lists 140 accredited centres in Pakistan, in 17 cities: Bahawalpur, Chakdara, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gwadar, Islamabad, Karachi, Khuzdar, Lahore, Multan, Panjgur, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal, Sialkot and Turbat. Gulf embassies deal only with centres accredited by the Gulf Health Council.

What the examination covers

The Gulf Health Council's regulations list a medical history, a physical check (including blood pressure and eyesight), blood tests (including hepatitis B and C, HIV and malaria), urine and stool tests, and a chest X-ray. Some conditions, such as certain infections or an abnormal chest X-ray, can make a person "unfit" for the visa.

How to check your result

Use Wafid's Medical Examination Result page (wafid.com/en/medical-status-search (opens in a new tab)). You can search with your passport number and nationality, or with your slip number. Wafid says the result appears within 26 days.

How long it is valid

Under the Gulf Health Council's 2021 regulations, the medical certificate is valid for 2 months from the date it is issued, for getting your visa. Newer rules may differ, so check with your employer or OEP. Wafid lets you book a new appointment 2 months after the date of an existing valid report.

After you arrive

The Gulf country examines you again after you arrive. In the UAE, for example, residence visa applicants aged 18 and over must pass a medical test there before their residence visa and Emirates ID.

Problems with payment or your booking

For duplicate payments, refunds or cancellations, contact Wafid at support@wafid.com with your passport number and screenshots.