Dr. John Abroon is a designated USCIS Civil Surgeon, and is licensed to perform immigration medical exams for those seeking permanent residency in the U.S. This medical exam is required for both adult and child applicants.
Immigration medical exams are not like regular physical exams or checkups, where you visit the doctor about health issues that you are experiencing to receive medical advice and treatment. Instead, it is a screening exam to determine whether or not it is safe to allow you into the United States. While you do not need to be in perfect health to pass this exam, you must not have any serious or communicable diseases, mental disorders, or drug problems that would make you inadmissible to the U.S. and ineligible for a visa or green card.
What to Expect During Your Exam
First, we will check your passport or other identity document to verify that you are, in fact, you.
The doctor or a member of the doctor’s staff will ask you for your medical history. This will include a review of all visits to the hospital, any times that you have needed to be put in an institution for a chronical physical or mental condition, and any instances when you have been seriously sick or disabled.
We will ask specific questions about psychoactive drug and alcohol use, any history of harmful behavior, and any history of psychiatric illness not documented in your medical records. We will also review ches X-rays and treatment records to determine if you have ever had tuberculosis.
We will review any other records (police, military, education, or employment records) to determine if you have a history of harmful behavior related to a physical or mental disorder.
The doctor will ask specifically about symptoms that suggest cardiovascular, pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychiatric disorders, and will check for symptoms that you are infected with a disease that would make you inadmissible.
You will then receive a physical examination, which will include an examination of:
- The eyes, ears, nose, and throat
- Bodily extremities
- Heart
- Lungs
- Abdomen
- Lymph nodes
- Skin
- External genitalia
A mental status examination will also be performed.
Other testing, such as blood draws and chest X-rays are usually part of this testing.
If you are too sick at the time of your medical exam for the doctor to perform all necessary tests, you will be asked to recover and return for your immigration medical exam at a later date.
Following your examination, the doctor will prepare a form provided by the USCIS with the results and findings. The result will be provided to you in a sealed envelope, which you will then give to the consulate or USCIS. Do not open this envelope.
Vaccinations
We will also verify that you have received all required vaccinations. Please bring a copy of any past vaccination reports that you have received. If the vaccination reports are not in English, you will also need to bring a written, full English translation. Required vaccinations for this exam include:
- Diphtheria
- Tetanus
- Pertussis
- Polio
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Rotavirus
- Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Meningococcal disease
- Varicella
- Pneumococcal disease
- Influenza
If you have not received certain vaccines, the doctor can administer them (or at least the first dose) during this exam.
Conditions Which May Make You Inadmissible
You do not need to be perfectly healthy in order to receive an immigration medical exam. However, there are a handful of conditions which may make you inadmissible for residency in the U.S. These include (as of 2018) gonorrhea, infectious leprosy (Hansen’s disease), infectious stage syphilis, and active tuberculosis. If you are seeking an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate, you may also be found inadmissible if you have a disease that may make you subject to quarantine or if you have a disease that may create a public health emergency of international concern.
Illnesses that affect you but which will not infect or injure others (heart disease, cancer, certain mental illnesses, etc.) will not prevent you from receiving a residency permit. Please be aware, however, that you may be found inadmissible as a possible public charge (someone who is likely to need government assistance or welfare) if you will not be able to work in the U.S. and do not have medical insurance.
For more information about immigration medical exams and to schedule your appointment with John Abroon, MD, contact our office today.
