On April 4, 2024, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that effective immediately, any Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, which was properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, does not have an expiration date. The service noted that the Form can be used indefinitely to evidence that the applicant is “not inadmissible on health-related grounds.” This determination was made by USCIS in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and “based on advances in public health electronic notification.”
USCIS Announces Temporary Waiver of Sixty-Day Rule for Civil Surgeon Signatures
On December 9, 2021, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a policy alert [https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-temporarily-waiving-60-day-rule-for-civil-surgeon-signatures] temporarily waiving the requirement for civil surgeons to sign Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, no more than sixty days before an applicant files an application for the underlying immigration benefit (including Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status). This rule will remain in effect until September 30, 2022. This measure allows foreign nationals, with otherwise valid I-693s, to complete the application process without having to submit to further immigration medical examinations, even if the civil surgeon signed their I-693 more than sixty days before they file their application with USCIS.
Read moreUSCIS Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Required for Immigration Medical Examinations
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective October 1, 2021, COVID-19 vaccinations are required for immigration medical examinations which are a part of the green card application process. The Service has updated its policy guidelines to require that “applicants subject to the immigration medical examination must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before the civil surgeon can complete an immigration medical examination and sign Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.”
Read moreCDC Adds Covid-19 Vaccine to List of Required Immunizations for Green Card Applicants
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that beginning October 1, 2021, foreign nationals submitting green card applications must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The Covid-19 vaccination was added to the list of vaccinations already required for those seeking permanent residency in the U.S. either by applying for Adjustment of Status if the applicant is in the U.S. or Consular Processing abroad. According to the CDC, applicants “must complete the COVID-19 vaccine series and provide documentation of vaccination to the civil surgeon in person before completion of the medical examination.”
Read moreUSCIS Temporarily Extends Validity Period of Form I-693 Medicals
On August 12, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published an alert that temporarily extends the validity period of a report of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record (“form I-693”) from two years to four years. The decision was made in an effort to expedite the adjudication of employment-based Form I-485, Application to Register to Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, by the last day of the government’s fiscal year which is September 30, 2021. It will not apply to cases adjudicated after September 30, 2021, unless the Service extends the validity of the medicals again.
Read moreUSCIS: Revised Policy Guidance for the Validity Period of Form I-693, Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced they are revising their policy concerning the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, which is used to determine whether an applicant for an immigration benefit is inadmissible under the health-related grounds of inadmissibility. The updated policy, effective November 1, 2018, will require applicants to submit a Form I-693 that is signed by a civil surgeon no more than sixty days before filing the underlying application for an immigration benefit.
Read moreUSCIS: Medicals only Valid for One year
Effective June 1, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has indicated that Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, will only be valid one year from the date of submission to USCIS. Further, the medicals must be submitted to USCIS within one year of the medical examination.
By way of background, most applicants for permanent resident must submit Form I-693, as part of their adjustment of status application, in order to show that they are not inadmissible on medical grounds. In 2002, USCIS (then known as INS), based on discussions with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), extended the validity of medical exams beyond the one-year threshold if USCIS took longer than one year to adjudicate the petition. This extension policy was renewed annually each year for the last twelve years. Recently, CDC has raised concerns with the USCIS policy of extending the validity of medicals and so we now have the new policy.
As part of the new policy, USCIS will also provide additional ways to submit Form I-693. The form will no longer be required as part of the initial filing. Instead, USCIS will send a Request for Evidence (RFE) for it or allow it to be submitted at the time of the USCIS interview (for those cases scheduled for interview). If petitioners wish to avoid the RFE, they can submit the I-693 medical with the initial filing but if the case is not adjudicated within the year, they would have to submit a second medical.
At first glance, this policy seems to create additional expense and burden for the foreign national. Why should a petitioner have to wait for an RFE to submit a medical? What risk could possibly occur if USCIS reverted to its extension of the medical given that many of the delays are not the fault of the foreign national? Certainly USCIS should ensure that a ten-year-old medical is updated before a green card is issued but perhaps updating should be requested on a case-by-case basis.
USCIS has scheduled a call on June 12 to further explain the rationale of this decision. Stay tuned.