I-693 - AOS from F1 Student Visa

[psychstudent 0]

Hi everyone,

I've been a lurker on the visajourney forms for a while as I attempt to fill out the AOS forms for my husband, who is currently in the US on an F1 student visa.

It's been very helpful! Now I have some questions of my own.

I'm a bit confused about the Civil Surgeon process. I saw a lot of posts on I-693 for K-1.

But how do we proceed with the I-693 with a current F-1?

From what I read, we find a CS and they tell us what vaccines and tests we need. We can either do them there, sometimes at higher cost, or go elsewhere to do them.

However, I feel he should go in with some information after reading the rip-off thread.

Does he need a full medical exam? Or just specific tests done?

What vaccines does he DEFINITELY need, that he can prepare in advance? Will all the sections and tests apply, i.e. TB, etc., or just the vaccination record? He has some proof of vaccinations from the university as they entered it into their system, but other proof of vaccinations is in a foreign language from his home country.

Can someone spell out the process and what to expect?

Thanks!

Edited October 26, 2013 by psychstudent

[carl9331 0]

Hi psychstudent!

I'm currently on F-1 filing AOS due to marriage.

Fortunately for my case, the civil surgeon I chose was in the same group practice as my primary care provider(PCP), so the exam fees, lab tests and X-rays were mostly covered by my current health insurance. I also believe that having my electronic medical record that my PCP has been keeping helped out the CS a lot in filling out the USCIS form.

In preparation for my visit with the civil surgeon, I had my university send a copy of my vaccination record (which was required by my university before i started my studies here in the US), however it never got to the civil surgeon's office in time. Although I was complete with my vaccinations since my pediatrician mother gave me all the required vaccinations (MMR, Tdap, polio, etc) when I was young, my civil surgeon still asked for blood samples to see if I had immunity to those. All in all, they took about 5 or 6 tubes of blood from me.

They also took blood for tuberculosis and syphilis testing, and I believe these are the two diseases that would bar you from getting permanent residency.
My CS also said that it used to be that HIV+ status prevented you from getting permanent residency, however the rules recently changed. My CS said that if you are HIV+ and as long as your HIV is well controlled by medication, it shouldn't be a problem getting perm residency. But even if you test negative on TB but are HIV+, you are required to undergo a chest x-ray. Otherwise, if you're not HIV+ or immunocompromised, X-rays are not necessary.

I believe there are two tests available for TB: skin test and blood test. To be sure, my CS did the gold standard blood test since skin tests may or may not result in false positives.

The civil surgeon also asked about mental health issues and substance abuse issues, however there weren't any specific tests that the CS did beyond oral confirmation that you do not have any mental health issues or substance abuse issues. I think being honest and straightforward with the CS helped in the decision of the CS. I wasn't asked to pee in a cup, nor was asked blood for drug testing.

As for physical examinations, I didn't have to undergo that. I'm just assuming that my PCP already does my annual physical and that as long as the CS can reference any EMR that it has been done, the CS won't have to do those again.

After waiting for about 2 weeks for the blood test results of the immunizations, TB and syphilis to come back, the CS asked me to bring back the USCIS forms, completed it, gave me a copy and put the original in a sealed envelop that I included in my AOS packet.

Hope this helps!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

He needs a full medical exam. Call around for a quote, should be around $200. Many people report their Civil Surgeon allows them to get shots somewhere else (where insurance is accepted) before coming back and getting it written on the medical. There is a civil surgeon locator on the uscis.gov website. Go see the Civil Surgeon, there is nothing to prepare for.

[Leo7777 243]

Good topic; thanks for starting the thread.

The I-693 lists a slew of vaccines the Civil Surgeon is either supposed to administer, or see proof (translated and certified into English) that the vaccines were previously given.

The vaccines are:

DT, DTP, DTaP

Td, Tdap

OPV, IPV

MMR

Hib

Varicella

Pneumococcal

Rotavirus

Meningococcal

Influenza

HepatitisA - - - two doses, 6 months apart.

HepatitisB - - - three doses with 3rd 6 months after the first.

Now, I have gotten private messages from two persons who indicated they provided no proof of prior vaccinations (even as they might have gotten some) - - - and yet Civil Surgeon only gave them the MMR, Tdap, and Influenza - - - and yet signed the form as everything being OK.

So a mixture of confusing requirements compared to what actually done.

This could be a serious time constraint give that the Hepatitis series needs 6 months to complete.

Definitely something is going on with these required vaccinations - - - not really being required - - - or are Civil Surgeons falsifying the records??

Anyone know the scoop on this?

Note: I am not saying I know all about this - - - I am asking.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

The Civil Surgeon is a real doctor who has extra training to be certified to administer this exam for the benefit of public health. Most of the vaccines you list are contra-indicated for certain ages. You don't give an adult a baby vaccine.

Furthermore, the doctors can use knowledge of standard practices in foreign countries to know what vaccines are given to all people. They can also ask the person. A report of chickenpox in childhood is accepted as "Varicella history" for any doctor.

A person does not need to have the complete sequence of shots to be OK'd for the medical exam. The law states that a person must be current at the time of I-693 transcription, and there is a box to tick for contra-indicated - time interval. You don't need to wait 6 months for the medical, though a person should go get that shot on their own when the time comes, for their health.

There are plenty of threads on the medical if you use the Advanced Search tool.

This is one area where the "public" does not need to know all the particulars of how it works. They need to go and trust their doctor to make the determinations.

I assure you Civil Surgeons aren't falsifying records :S. They know what they are doing.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[Franciscus 32]

Good topic; thanks for starting the thread.

The I-693 lists a slew of vaccines the Civil Surgeon is either supposed to administer, or see proof (translated and certified into English) that the vaccines were previously given.

The vaccines are:

DT, DTP, DTaP

Td, Tdap

OPV, IPV

MMR

Hib

Varicella

Pneumococcal

Rotavirus

Meningococcal

Influenza

HepatitisA - - - two doses, 6 months apart.

HepatitisB - - - three doses with 3rd 6 months after the first.

Now, I have gotten private messages from two persons who indicated they provided no proof of prior vaccinations (even as they might have gotten some) - - - and yet Civil Surgeon only gave them the MMR, Tdap, and Influenza - - - and yet signed the form as everything being OK.

So a mixture of confusing requirements compared to what actually done.

This could be a serious time constraint give that the Hepatitis series needs 6 months to complete.

Definitely something is going on with these required vaccinations - - - not really being required - - - or are Civil Surgeons falsifying the records??

Anyone know the scoop on this?

Note: I am not saying I know all about this - - - I am asking.

This is a relevant issue.

y advice is the following: go to the first appointment with the Civil Surgeon bringing everything you already have (for example, I brought records of some vaccines I got when I came to the US to study, plus the records from my country of birth, which I already had to present to my university so they already had them processed and in English). There, they will look at everything you have and tell you what they still need.

Once you have the list of everything they still want to finally sign the form, you do what is easier/cheaper to you; in my case, that was going back to health services of my university and getting one more vaccine and also getting a blood test for immunization to one disease (I had the vaccine but they did not accept that because of something I can't remember).

Once you get these things done you come back, show that to them, and then they give you the form (obviously this second visit has no cost). In my case, I only paid 100 to the Civil Surgeon. You basically are not obliged to do anything "extra" at the Civil Surgeon besides the "physical exam", which is a doctor looking at you for one second and that's it... and this way you dont have to try to figure out what you need and what you don't need, mostly because it varies a lot according to country of origin, age, and also specific civil surgeons...

Good luck!