Effective December 2, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will require Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record to be included with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. USCIS has revised the Form I-485 instructions accordingly to make filing the two forms together a requirement.
In the past, Adjustment of Status applicants could choose to submit the I-693 medical exam with their initial Adjustment of Status applications or at a later time when requested by USCIS, while the application was already filed and pending with USCIS. On December 2, 2024, USCIS announced that they are aiming to reduce the case processing backlog by requiring the medical exam with initial Adjustment of Status filings. With this new requirement, there should be fewer requests for evidence and thus quicker overall processing times for Form I-485.
USCIS announced this change without giving any grace period. Therefore, any submitted Adjustment of Status applications that were not received by USCIS as of December 2, 2024 will likely be rejected. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to complete the medical exam and resubmit their applications as soon as possible to avoid any issues or gaps with their immigration status. For those applicants that are filing their Adjustment of Status application on or after December 2, 2024, they will now need to ensure a medical exam is completed and included with the filing.
Under the new USCIS requirements, applicants can no longer wait to submit their I-693 medical exam after the Form I-485 has been filed. Therefore, when preparing a Form I-485 application, applicants should plan ahead with their designated physician to complete the I-693 medical exam and have it ready to file along with the Form I-485.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Manish Daftari
Partner
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