Immigration medical exam is a compulsory series of tests taken by green card applicants or those seeking adjustment of their status to permanent residence or certain non immigrant visas and asylees.
Civil surgeons conduct immigration medical exam. These Civil Surgeons must be approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS. In addition, they must comply with the instructions of the centre for disease control, CDC for conducting the medical examination.
The purpose of the examination is to know whether the applicant is admissible to the United States or not on the grounds of Public Health and Safety. The immigration medical exam clearance requirements include clearing a series of tests, mental evaluation and getting vaccinated. These results are recorded by the civil surgeon on the i693 form which is signed by the civil surgeon after you complete the examination and is sealed in an envelope along with other test reports. If the seal is broken, envelope appears to be tampered with or name and other contact details are misspelled, the results are instantly rejected. Make sure the sealed envelope is intact and delivered to the USCIS within a week’s time.
The first test that you need to clear is that of Tuberculosis. Tuberculin skin test is conducted. The results usually take 48-72 hours to display and the rest of the test is conducted after that. Chest X rays are not required if the applicant also done to determine as to what extent the TB has affected the applicant.
The TB tests are followed by Serologic test for Syphilis. This test is conducted for only those who are 15 years or older. Once the Serologic tests are done, Communicable diseases are checked for including Gonorrhea, Leprosy, Chancroid and others that are of Public Health Significance. A thorough examination of your body including eyes, ears, nose, throat, lymph nodes, lungs, heart and external genitals are checked.
After the serologic tests, drug abuse and drug addiction are checked for. The doctor asks a series of questions to check for this and carefully evaluates your medical history. It is also important to list down any chronic conditions that you may be suffering from including diabetes, hypertension etc.
The last stage is vaccination. According to the instructions issued by the CDC, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccinations are administered for diseases that can spread and create an epidemic including Mumps, Measles, Rubella, Polio, Tetanus and Diphtheria Toxoids, Pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type B, Hepatitis B and any other vaccine-preventable diseases recommended by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, ACIP.
If you have been vaccinated before carry the proof of your vaccinations from your health care provider so you are not re-vaccinated. The vaccines are age appropriate and certain vaccines are not given to pregnant women. If you are allergic to a vaccine, it will be marked contraindicated in the form.
Once the tests are done, the doctor seals the results and you’re good to go and deliver the results to the USCIS. Then, start preparing for the next set of tests.
The immigration medical exam is mandatory medical conducted by a USCIS approved civil surgeon on green card applicants or for applicants seeking certain non immigrant visas and in certain cases asylees as well. In the United States, a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS approved Civil Surgeon conducts it. While outside the US, a physician on the panel of USCIS conducts it. A regular family physician cannot complete the i693 form.
For adjustment of status, the applicant needs to submit i693 form with i485 form to register for Permanent Residence or to adjust their status.
Applicants usually fill out their immigration forms themselves; however, the i693 needs to be filled by the Civil Surgeon conducting the immigration medical exam. The USCIS will use the information disclosed in the form to determine the residential status of the applicant in the US.
Applicants who need to file for adjustment of their status to that of permanent residence in the US need to submit the i693 form which is signed by Civil Surgeon who conducts their immigration medical exam.
I693 form is needed to report the results of the medical examination to the USCIS. It is also mandatory to submit this form to establish the fact that the applicant is not inadmissible to the United States on the grounds of public health and safety.
The i693 matters because according to the immigration and nationality act certain medical grounds can be used for denial of immigrations into the US. There is a series of different types of tests and evaluation carried out which is important to know whether the applicant is admissible to the United States or not.
To begin with, there’s a Tuberculin Skin Test to detect Tuberculosis. Once this test is carried out, the applicant needs to wait for the reaction to the test which helps determine the applicant’s exposure to TB. The reaction shows up within 72 hours usually. If the reaction patch on the skin is more, the applicant needs a chest x ray and further testing for TB. The results will be recorded in the form.
There are other tests such as the serologic blood test for Syphilis and HIV. A body check up is done to check for communicable diseases such as Leprosy, Gonorrhea or other types of Venereal Diseases. These form the other sections of the i693 form and will be filled in as and how the results are received.
A thorough evaluation of the applicant’s mental health is done. The civil surgeon will ask a list of questions and carefully go through your medical records.
The final test which is the last section of the i693 form is the required vaccination. The vaccines administered are those of mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus, diphtheria toxoids, hepatitis B, varicella, haemophilius inlfuenzae type B, measles, pertussis, influenza type B, and pneumococcal. If you were vaccinated before, carry those records along. You can obtain those certificates from your health care provider.
Do not fill the i693 yourself. Civil Surgeons on easyIME will fill in your details in the i693 form and download it and print the error free form for you. For the medical, make sure that you bring previous medical records, records of earlier vaccinations and if you’re pregnant, carry a certificate of your pregnancy from your physician.
The results of the medical are usually valid for a period of 12 months.
Once the exam is completed, the civil surgeon signs the completed form and hands it over to the applicant along with the test results in a sealed envelope. The USCIS will immediately reject the results if the form is not sealed or appears to be tampered with. It is the applicant’s responsibility to deliver the envelope within a week’s time at the office of the USCIS.
If you have any queries, questions or doubts regarding your immigration medical exam, you can always reach an easyIME representative at 888-437-6797 or write to us at imesupport@esmsys.com.
easyIME.com is a free service, which streamlines the immigration medical process for green card aspirants by helping them locate the right Immigration Doctors and schedule their USCIS immigration medical exam online. Green card aspirants can also find immigration lawyers near their zip code through this service.
It’s always the first time and usually the last when you go for the immigration medical exam. Of course, the nerves are on a high and the cluelessness is at its peak. In addition, it is difficult to find the right information on the immigration medical exam, there are questions in your mind such as “how long it will take?” “what do they check?” and several others.
Read on to find out.
Immigration Medical Exam is mandatory for all those aspiring for their Green Card, certain non immigrant visas and for those seeking asylum. It cannot be skipped since it is done to ascertain whether the applicant is mentally and physically healthy enough to be admissible to the United States or not.
USCIS approved civil surgeons conduct the immigration medical exam within the United States and outside the US physicians on the panel of USCIS conduct it. The medical examination takes 4-5 hours depending on the tests done and how the civil surgeon conducts the medical. It is recommended that you take a day off on the test day. The medical examination usually requires a follow up after two days from the first visit since it takes a while for some test results to show up.
Health Insurance does not cover the cost of this examination so you will need to bear the costs yourself. The USCIS does not regulate the amount charged by different civil surgeons. There is no harm in asking the civil surgeon or your insurance provider regarding the cost coverage. The charges vary from one geographical area to the next. It will cost you anywhere between $200 and $700.
There are various tests carried out on the d-day. The first one is to check for tuberculosis. Most doctors prefer tuberculin skin test to check for TB exposure followed by chest X Ray. There are certain doctors who carry out the IGRA test.
Next is the serologic test that determines exposure to Syphilis. In addition, a complete body check up is done including that of ears, nose, throat, eyes, heart, lymph nodes, lungs and external genitalia to check for communicable diseases. Tests to check other diseases like Leprosy and Gonorrhea are also done.
The doctor also checks the applicant for any symptoms of bad mental health or for signs of drug abuse or any addiction. He will ask a list of questions to ascertain this. The last step is that of vaccination.
The Centre for Disease Control has brought out a list of vaccines that should be given to immigrants entering the US. Vaccines are given depending on the applicant’s age. Certain vaccines will only be given to children like Pertussis vaccine and certain vaccines will be administered to only adults. The influenza shots are seasonal and will be administered only during the flu season from October to March.
Pregnant women will not be given certain vaccines and those with allergies too can skip some vaccines. These will be marked as contraindicated in the i693 form. If you cannot take vaccines for religious reasons, there is a separate form that you need to fill. Ask the civil surgeon for this form.
The doctor will fill the i693 form and sign it and hand it over to you along with the test results in a sealed envelope. Before he seals the results make sure you check your name and all the other information on the form. If your name or contact details are misspelled or if the seal appears to be tampered with or broken, USCIS will instantly reject the results. Carefully deliver the envelope to the USCIS within a week’s time.
After processing the results, wait and prepare for the next round of tests and interview.
Read the FAQ section for more details.
Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us, a “pro-immigration conservative” lobbying group, is leading a multi-faceted campaign for comprehensive immigration reform.
FWD.us is organizing a hackathon in California headquarters of LinkedIn on November 20-21. The event brings together DREAMers who will be split in teams and asked to create projects that help supporters share their immigration related stories, contact Congress members and show everyone why the country’s broken immigration system needs a fix. Zuckerberg, Reid Hoffman from LinkedIn, Drew Houston from Dropbox and Andrew Mason from Groupon will mentor these children.
In addition, the pro immigration reform group is co-sponsoring trips and media campaigns to Washington DC where non profit representatives and business leaders will meet next week.
Although, immigration reform appears mostly dead, there are some who believe that supporting immigration reform would be just what the Republicans need right now. This will take the attention away from the shutdown loss and repair their party’s image.
House Republicans are currently drafting their own versions of the immigration bill targeting the different elements of the huge bill; however, their win or loss will be defined by how they deal with the situation of the 11 million undocumented currently living in the country.
With the pressure from business leaders and tech giants like Facebook, LinkedIn, Groupon and the major Latino voters which the Republican Party needs to win for the upcoming elections, it seems likely that immigration reform may still be taken up for a vote in the House. However, it is difficult to say how soon that will happen since there are only 23 legislative days left in the current year and the next year is the election year.
easyIME.com is a free service, which streamlines the immigration medical process for green card aspirants by helping them locate the right Immigration Doctors and schedule their USCIS immigration medical exam online. Green card aspirants can also find immigration lawyers near their zip code through this service.
