RFE for Form I-693

[dpe4545 0]

Hi,

My wife and I are currently applying for Adjustment of Status. She entered the US on a K-1 Visa. We then got married and applied for the AOS in September. USCIS just sent us a few weeks ago an RFE asking for a new I-693 form to be submitted. The RFE says, "Please submit a new Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record." Since she entered the country on a K-1 Visa, we aren't required to redo the medical exam. So, we have been thinking two things: 1) They lost our medical exam or 2) They just need the Vaccination Supplement. We never went to a Civil Surgeon to get the DS-3025 transcribed onto the I-693 - we just submitted a copy of the DS-3025 which the Panel Physician gave us when she got her medical exam in El Salvador. We now know that it was supposed to be done by the Civil Surgeon. We did all this under the direction of our lawyer, so right now we're a little untrusting of her advice. She told us in the first place that we must submit only the first page of the I-693 and the DS-3025. We did, but when they sent us the RFE she blamed us for sending in the paperwork like that. Now she is telling us that we just need to resubmit the vaccination supplement and not the entire I-693. Because she gave bad advice and then later blamed it on us, we don't really trust her right now. She is not being very helpful either. She got a little upset when we questioned her about what happened when we submitted the I-693 and told us to just do exactly as she tells us. The problem is the wording of the RFE made us think that we must do the medical exam again because it states a new I-693. If they just wanted to vaccination supplement, wouldn't they just ask for that?

The thing is, we don't mind getting a new physical exam and everything, we just don't want to spend all that money again. We are currently out of the United States and won't get back until August 18, which is only a few days before the deadline they gave us to respond to the RFE. It will be bad enough to have to pay over $200 dollars for the medical exam, but neither do we want to have to leave early and pay to change the plane tickets, which is even more money! So, needless to say, we are a little freaked out at how we should continue.

To add to the confusion, we submitted our application for AOS within a year of the medical exam like we were supposed to. However, they sent us the RFE a few months after the one year mark. We don't know if our medical exam is still valid or why they would want another one. We've been thinking about just getting another one to be safe, but again, we really just can't afford to spend all that money. There has to be some way we can at least find out what happened with our I-693 (i.e., whether they lost it, whether ours is bad, etc.) We've thought about talking to our congressman or even requesting a copy of the medical exam from the US Embassy while we're here in El Salvador to send in response to the RFE. We are just hoping for some help or advice from someone who has gone through this before

Thank you!

[Hypnos 6,578]

Having a medical performed abroad does not necessarily mean you don't have to have a full I-693 completed. See this post which details exactly how you can tell if the overseas medical is valid or not: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/428381-i-693-report-of-medical-examination-and-vaccination-report/?p=6206232

With regards to I-693 validity, USCIS recently changed those rules.

I made a post recently elsewhere which explains this: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/477746-vawa-part-5/page-97#entry7089362

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Having the medical exam abroad for a K-1 within a year of filing for AOS does mean they don't need a full I-693. You only need Page 1 and the vaccinations sheet(Page 5) of the I-693 done.

The problem is, you sent the first page of an I-693 on your own with your AOS paperwork. You do not do that. An I-693 needs to be filled out and signed by a civil surgeon. The USCIS now is asking for a new, correct and competed I-693 from you. Those in the past that made this same mistake had to get the whole new exam and I-693 filled out to satisfy the RFE, even if your K-1 exam was less than a year ago still.