Form 8500-7

[Dispatch_TK]

So here is my situation: I’ve had amblyopia in my right eye ever since I was a kid. (Correctable to somewhere between 20/20 and 20/25). I have applied for an ATC position and have been scheduled at one of the new Pre-employment Processing Centers (PEPC) where I’ll be given a medical exam (among other things) with a bunch of other ATC candidates.

My vision is right on the edge of being 20/20, but with the added pressure of my career depending on my performance in front of the eye-testing machine (or hopefully, chart) I am afraid that I may not be able to pass the test. However, I am confident that I could achieve 20/20 vision (or close enough to it) at my ophthalmologist’s office.

I have seen a lot of posts regarding Form 8500-7. Will I be allowed to take in a completed Form 8500-7 (stating that I have 20/20 vision) to the AME at the PEPC and forgo the vision test?

Will the AME accept the Form 8500-7 and stamp his approval on the spot, or will he have to send in the paperwork to Oklahoma City, where I have to wait for approval (or disapproval) from higher powers?

Finally, the only FAA Form 8500-7 that I can find on the Internet has an expiration date of 1/31/08 in the upper right-hand corner. Is this something that I should be worried about?

Thanks in advance,
TK

[My Flight Surgeon]

Here is the 8500-7 http://forms.faa.gov/forms/faa8500-7.pdf

The ATC standards are different than pilot standards so I don't know what they will do.