There’s good news for immigrants applying for green cards — for now, at least
Immigrants in the United States who request an adjustment of status to become legal permanent residents must use an indispensable form to show that there are no health issues that would deem the applicant inadmissible to the country.
It’s the obligatory — and sometimes feared — medical examination and vaccination record for immigration purposes. The results are presented to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) through Form I-693.
Until now, the form has remained valid for a maximum two-year-period that begins to count from the date it is signed by a USCIS designated civil surgeon.
But the U.S. immigration agency is facing significant delays processing applications due to the coronavirus pandemic — so it has decided to temporarily extend the validity of Form I-693 from two to four years.
“We are making this temporary change because COVID-19 has caused processing delays and affected applicants’ ability to complete the required immigration medical examination,” immigration officials said in a news release.
The problem many green card applicants are facing is that by the time their immigration benefit is adjudicated, the I-693 is no longer valid.
To overcome this hurdle, the applicant has been required to obtain an updated medical report.
Immigration officials recommend that applicants schedule their medical exams as close as possible to the time they’ll submit their adjustment of status application with Form I-485 to receive a U.S. green card.
At least temporarily, USCIS said it will consider a Form I-693 valid if:
▪ The civil surgeon’s signature is dated no more than 60 days before the applicant filed Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
▪ No more than four years have passed since the date of the civil surgeon’s signature.
▪ A decision on the applicant’s Form I-485 is issued on or before Sept. 30, 2021.
Authorities urged immigrants seeking adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident to file forms I-693 and I-485 jointly.
“Doing so may eliminate the need for us to issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) and helps avoid adjudication delays,” they said.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration also implemented a new procedure to extend a green card’s validity for 12 months, ensuring that permanent residents ”will have documentation of identity, employment authorization and authorization to return to the United States following temporary foreign travel,” the Department of Homeland Security agency said in a news release.
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
