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What We have some bad news for adjustment of status applicants filing a green card inside the United States.

Effective immediately, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will now require adjustment of status applicants filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status to submit their application along with the sealed medical examination from their civil surgeon also known as Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.

Applicants who fail to provide the medical examination may have their I-485 green card application rejected by USCIS.

Why is a Medical Examination Required for a Green Card?

Those who are applying for adjustment of status (a green card) are generally required to undergo an immigration medical examination. During the examination, the civil surgeon will review the applicant’s vaccination history to determine whether the applicant has received all required vaccinations, including the COVID-19 vaccination.

Once the medical examination has been completed, the civil surgeon must sign and provide a sealed Form I-693 report that must be mailed by the applicant along with the I-485 application.

The medical report is necessary to prove that green card applicants are free from health conditions that would render them inadmissible to the U.S. on health-related grounds.

Accordingly, filing the Form I-693 and Form I-485 together is now a requirement.

USCIS has said that the reason for this change is to decrease the number of Requests for Evidence issued before adjudicating Form I-485.

COVID-19 Vaccine Waivers

A vaccine waiver may be granted at USCIS discretion where the green card applicant establishes that compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination requirement would be contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions.

Non-compliance with the COVID-19 vaccine is usually determined at the in-person green card interview.

After the officer reviews the I-693 report and finds that the COVID-19 vaccine requirement has not been met, they will issue a Request for Further Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) by mail.

This gives the green card applicant the opportunity to respond by filing a vaccine waiver application within the usual submission deadline of approximately 30-33 days.

Thereafter, the applicant will respond to the RFE or NOID including the receipt notice of Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility to demonstrate they have requested a vaccine waiver.

The applicant will then wait for USCIS to review the waiver application and make a decision. The If you need assistance, we invite you to contact our office for a consultation.

For more information about this announcement, please click here.

To learn more about vaccine waivers, click here.

Contact Us.

If you would like to schedule a consultation, please text 619-569-1768 or call 619-819-9204.

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