The journey to establish your permanent residency in the United States can be a long and complicated one, but if you’re well-prepared, you can navigate these immigration waters more easily. If you’re applying for your green card or a change in your legal status, you need to complete the immigration physical, which is called the I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.
To do this, you need a medical professional who is a designated civil surgeon authorized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Forest Urgent Care LIC and Forest Hills, New York, is one such medical facility that has the authority to conduct this necessary physical exam.
The key to gaining your lawful residency more quickly hinges upon completion of this exam, so here are a few things you can do to help the process along.
The main reason why you must undergo a special medical exam is to ensure that you don’t pose a threat to the general public. Thanks to widespread vaccination efforts, the United States has been able to all but eradicate several contagious and dangerous diseases, such as smallpox and polio, so they need to make sure that you have current immunizations.
In addition, the government wants to check that you’re not carrying any communicable disease, such as tuberculosis or syphilis. Finally, the government also wants reassurance that you don’t have any mental disorders that may lead to violent or dangerous behavior.
The documentation for your physical exam is the I-693 form, which can be found on this website. Before you come in for your exam, we ask that you thoroughly read over this form and fill out what you can prior to your appointment. Any section marked “applicant” (sections 1-3) is for you to fill out, but if you have any questions, please leave it blank until you get here.
It’s important that any areas that say “to be completed by the civil surgeon” be left blank as that’s for us to complete.
In addition to filling out the application where necessary, we also ask that you bring the following documents and items to your medical exam, per the I-693 form instructions:
You should also bring an acceptable form of payment for your exam, which we will collect after your physical is complete.
If you look over the I-693 form, it will give you an idea of what your exam will be like. Your doctor has a checklist, which he reviews with you, and he performs whatever tests are necessary. This includes a blood test to check for syphilis and tuberculosis (TB). If your blood test is positive for TB, we need to follow up with a chest X-ray as a secondary screening measure.
You will also be expected to provide us with a urine sample during your exam, so try not to urinate right before your exam.
Also, if you’re missing any vaccinations, we can usually administer those here at our clinic.
Once we give you the all-clear, we will complete your form, sign it, and seal it (usually during your follow-up visit). Once it’s sealed, you can’t open it again, so it is important that you get a copy from us before you send it to the USCIS.
If you have any more questions about your immigration physical, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. Or you can use the online scheduling tool on this website to set up an appointment at either of our locations in Forest Hills or Long Island City, New York.
