Vaccinations

[Cam54 84]

I had my tetanus vaccination 10 years ago and was under the impression you needed it every ten years but my drs surgery in the uk is saying no, do I need a tetanus within the last 10 years for adjustment of status?

[Hypnos 6,578]

Yes you do.

[Cam54 84]

How about if you are around 6 months shy of 10 years when you adjust status, reason I ask is the whole emigrating process is expensive as it is and if I can avoid spending $100 or so on a vaccine I will, especially considering the uk considers you imagine for life if you get your 5 childhood doses

Edited January 3, 2014 by Cam54

[Vanitas 310]

So long as your DS-3025 from Knightsbridge shows that your tetanus is valid (and for that of course they need/needed your vaccination records from the GP), you should be alright. If it doesn't, then you'll need to have it redone.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

It doesn't matter what your GP says in this case because you are meeting US standards.

Here's a copy/paste of my long answer...well the shot part.

Do you need an I-693 immunization sheet? Is my DS-3025 filled out properly?

Look at your DS-3025. If it has the ALL of the following items, you don't need an I-693 (Adults 19-49 yrs old).

1. Shots marked with a date (at least one of a series)

MMR (two are required but if you have "insufficient time interval" checked, then you get a waiver)

Td or Tdap or DT or DTP or DtaP (One no longer than 10 years ago, ie.have a booster)

Varicella or VH written by it if you had chickenpox

Influenza (during flu season)** see note below because you are most likely okay without it.

2. Everything else marked not age appropriate, insufficient time interval, not flu season...things that allow a waiver.

3. RESULTS section filled in with "incomplete" and "may be eligible for blanket waiver" ticked or "complete" (but complete is rare).

4. Signed and dated by the doctor

If it's not completed EXACTLY like that then see a civil surgeon for the I-693. If it is complete, send a photocopy of your DS-3025. Almost isn't good enough. It needs to be filled out properly.

The USCIS is supposed to have your K1 medical files, but sometimes lose them or fail to match them up with your AOS. Do not get another exam unless you get an RFE that says they do not have results of your medical. It means they lost them, but you are probably stuck with paying for a new exam. Those kinds of RFE's are not about the immunizations or the form I-693; they are because USCIS failed to match up your other medical exam results with your AOS application.

**Note on flu shot: Flu shots are required for adults of all ages (changed Nov 2010) if your visa exam was between (Oct 1 and March 31). But if the AOS adjudicator picks up your case when it is not flu season, you will be excused. And the reverse is true. The adjudicator picks up your case during flu season, but sees it was NOT flu season when you had your medical exam, you are also excused because the date they go by is the date of your exam to determine if you were current on that date. Keep in mind that if you go to a civil surgeon for an I-693, then you are resetting the medical exam date for immunizations and you may have to get second doses of shots or a flu shot to become current on your new immunization date of record.

What if I only had one dose of MMR and it's marked "insufficient time interval"? Do I need to another dose and must I see a civil surgeon before AOS?

NO you do not need to see a civil surgeon unless USCIS loses the whole medical file you turned in at POE. If you were up to date the day that DS-3025 was signed, then you're okay without getting 2nd or 3rd doses. You can get them for your health, or you can not get them ever. It was not medically appropriate for you to get dose 2 on top of dose 1. There's a time interval for doses. So you get a waiver for "insufficient time interval" if that is marked on your DS-3025.

If you are one of the unlucky ones with a lost medical, then you will have to get a full medical again. By then, enough time would have passed for dose 2 so expect the CS to say you need it. Hopefully it won't come to that.

If you just chose not to get a second dose that was due (because it was more than 4 weeks since dose 1) then you wouldn't have that "insufficient time interval" waiver marked on your DS-3025. It was medically fine to have the second dose and you didn't. You aren't complete and have no waiver excuse.

[Cam54 84]

Basically my Td says it was last in May 2004 and on that part of my vaccination sheet it is ticked under insufficient time interval (every 10 years), we will be filing for adjustment of status in 2 weeks, you think we ok then?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Basically my Td says it was last in May 2004 and on that part of my vaccination sheet it is ticked under insufficient time interval (every 10 years), we will be filing for adjustment of status in 2 weeks, you think we ok then?

You have the waiver reason ticked--insufficient time interval. What about the others?

What about flu jab? Does it have "not flu season" ticked ?

MMR dates?

Varicella. Do you have VH written?

[Cam54 84]

You have the waiver reason ticked--insufficient time interval. What about the others?

What about flu jab? Does it have "not flu season" ticked ?

MMR dates?

Varicella. Do you have VH written?

Fly jab has not flu season ticked

MMR is completed series

And varicella says VH in completed series section, what does that mean?

[kitthekat 1,317]

And varicella says VH in completed series section, what does that mean?

It stands for varicella history.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Fly jab has not flu season ticked

MMR is completed series

And varicella says VH in completed series section, what does that mean?

It means varicella history...you had chickenpox and don't need the jab.

So everything is complete or you have a waiver reason marked (flu and Tdap). You should be fine then without a civil surgeon. They are supposed to go by the medical date of record. If you were as complete as possible on your medical date, then that is supposed to be final. Even if your AOS process takes you past that 10 year mark on the Tdap/Td, they are supposed to look at if you met the requirements at the time that medical form was signed. You did because it was medically inappropriate for you to receive another shot at that time. It was also inappropriate to receive a flu jab on that date, even if you mail AOS during flu season.

[Mark + Melissa 49]

So long as your DS-3025 from Knightsbridge shows that your tetanus is valid (and for that of course they need/needed your vaccination records from the GP), you should be alright. If it doesn't, then you'll need to have it redone.

Actually, that's not quite accurate as we found out the hard(and expensive!) way. The US Civil Surgeon you see will override Knightsbridge doctors. If the civil surgeon thinks you need it, you'll have to get it. My husband (then fiance) is older, and the MMR shots didn't exist when he was a child. Knightsbridge marked this as not age appropriate and happily sent him on his way. However, the Civil Surgeon decided he needed a full MMR series, and (even though he had the paperwork) felt he hadn't received enough pertussis, so gave him a series of DPT, and a flu, and both tb and polio tests. It was a quite expensive trip when we thought it had all been taken care of in London.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Mark + Melissa

[Vanitas 310]

Actually, that's not quite accurate as we found out the hard(and expensive!) way. The US Civil Surgeon you see will override Knightsbridge doctors. If the civil surgeon thinks you need it, you'll have to get it. My husband (then fiance) is older, and the MMR shots didn't exist when he was a child. Knightsbridge marked this as not age appropriate and happily sent him on his way. However, the Civil Surgeon decided he needed a full MMR series, and (even though he had the paperwork) felt he hadn't received enough pertussis, so gave him a series of DPT, and a flu, and both tb and polio tests. It was a quite expensive trip when we thought it had all been taken care of in London.

Explain something, then. What happened with sending just your DS-3025? Did USCIS send you a RFE which meant you had to go and get an I-693 done?

[Hypnos 6,578]

I also didn't receive the MMR since it was introduced in the UK a couple of years after I was born. I had to get one dose of MMR before the civil-surgeon would sign off on my I-693.

[Vanitas 310]

Ah, that'd be why then. Under normal circumstances you'd just submit the DS-3025 and hope that USCIS hasn't lost your medical results in the interim between POE and AOS, and then you'd usually be golden. But if you do have to go to a Civil Surgeon because of something like that.. yeah, what they say goes, unfortunately..