Form I-693 Medical Examination Must Now be Filed Concurrently with Adjustment of Status Application

On December 2, 2024, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that applicants for adjustment of status must now file the Form I-693 medical examination with their Form I-485 green card application, or the application may be rejected. 

Applicants for adjustment of status are required to submit a completed medical examination to demonstrate they have the required vaccinations and are not inadmissible to the United States based on health-related grounds. This change in policy is a departure from the longstanding USCIS policy that allowed applicants to submit the Form I-693 medical examination after filing the I-485 green card application, either in response to a Request for Evidence or at the adjustment interview. In the announcement, the USCIS stated that the change was made to reduce the number of Requests for Evidence it issues before adjudicating a Form I-485 green card application.

The new policy is effective December 2, 2024. We will reach out to our clients who are immediately affected by the new USCIS policy. 

What this means for our clients: 

This is a significant announcement impacting  I-485 filing logistics.  Many applicants in the past have benefitted from the option to submit the medical examinations to the USCIS separately on a later date, particularly in situations where there is a significant wait for examination bookings with one of the USCIS-approved physicians.  However, in conjunction with the USCIS policy announced in April 2024 that medical examination reports properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, will not expire and can be used indefinitely, it is anticipated that this new rule requiring submission of medical examination results with the I-485 filing will lead to speedier processing of applications at the USCIS.