COVID-19 Vaccine Required for Green Card Applicants

Starting October 1, USCIS together with america Division of State (DHS) will probably be requiring inexperienced card candidates, looking for both refugee or lawful everlasting standing to be totally vaccinated for COVID-19 and present proof of it at their medical examination. This new I-693 Medical Examination vaccine requirement will apply to any everlasting resident applicant (with exceptions permissible) who has a medical examination (by the Civil Surgeon or Panel Doctor) scheduled on or previous October 1st, 2021. Inexperienced card candidates are already required to be vaccinated for different ailments that might deem them inadmissible to america comparable to Mumps, Measles, Rubella, Polio, and so forth.

Primarily based on the Middle for Illness Management and Prevention’s (CDC) tips, “the applicant should full the COVID-19 vaccine collection and supply documentation of vaccination to the civil surgeon in particular person earlier than completion of the medical examination.  The COVID-19 vaccination requirement will differ from earlier necessities in that your entire vaccine collection (1 or 2 doses relying on formulation) should be accomplished along with the opposite routinely required vaccines. COVID-19 vaccinations can now be given at any time, with out regard to the timing of different vaccinations.”

The timelines for the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccines are outlined under. You probably have solely obtained the primary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on the time of your medical examination then you can be allowed to return to finish your medical examination after receiving the second dose.

What serves as proof of vaccination?

The next types of documentation function proof of COVID-19 vaccination:

• Medical vaccination report
• Copies of your medical chart with dates of receiving the vaccine

Exams exhibiting pure immunity from a previous an infection is not going to function proof for immigration functions as a result of the “period of immunity attributable to pure an infection remains to be being investigated and won’t shield the applicant all through the immigration course of,” in accordance with the CDC.

Extension to I-693 Validity On account of COVID

In case you accomplished your I-693 Medical Examination previous to October 1, 2021 and it’s nonetheless legitimate then you might be exempt from this COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Keep in mind, the medical examination will not be required to be submitted to USCIS with the preliminary I-485 utility submitting. It is not going to be rejected if you don’t embody the medical examination data within the preliminary submitting and so long as you submit it inside the validity window (from the date the civil surgeon indicators it) try to be okay.

Efficient August 12, 2021, USCIS is briefly extending the validity interval of an in any other case legitimate Type I-693 in circumstances the place:

• The civil surgeon’s signature on Type I-693 is dated not more than 60 days earlier than the applicant information Type I-485;
• Not more than 4 years have handed for the reason that date of the civil surgeon’s signature; and
• The choice on Type I-485 is issued on or earlier than September 30, 2021.

If you’re an I-485 applicant and have a precedence date that can most definitely be present quickly (as much as 4 years with the COVID extension), then it could possibly be a sensible choice to have the medical examination able to go in a sealed I-693 medical examination envelope. Try this Full Medical Examination Information together with particulars on the perfect time to organize and submit the I-693 medical examination to USCIS.

Who’s exempt from the vaccine requirement?

There are some causes you might be exempt from the vaccine requirement together with age, present medical circumstances, incapability to accumulate a vaccine attributable to restricted provide, ethical or non secular causes. People who’re below 12 years previous are presently too younger to obtain the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johson & Johnson vaccines. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is presently authorized for kids 12 years previous or older and the Moderna and Johson & Johnson vaccine is authorized for these 18 years and older. To qualify for the non secular exemption you need to submit a waiver request to USCIS and await their approval.