USCIS Designated Physicians’ Offices that are Taking Appointments for Medical Examinations

Medical exams performed by a USCIS designated physician are required as part of Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status to Permanent Resident (green card). The medical exams completed on Form I-693 can be submitted as part of the initial filing or at the time of the interview.  For those just filing their initial Form I-485 application with USCIS, you are not required to submit the medical exam at this time and may choose to wait to complete it until your interview is scheduled 6+ months from now to avoid possible undue exposure.

For those that already submitted their employment based Form I-485 applications, while USCIS did not officially announce waiving final green card interviews due to COVID-19 that seems to be the trend in April and May 2020.  However, if applicants chose not to submit medical exams (Form I-693) with their initial filing, USCIS cannot approve the application until they receive a completed Form I-693.  Clients who would normally be in the queue to be scheduled for an interview at the local USCIS field office are instead receiving requests for evidence to submit their medical exams now.  Once submitted and if an immigrant visa number available for the foreign national’s preference category, we have seen USCIS waiving the interview at the local field office and approving applications.  If this is the case, getting a medical exam during COVID has been the biggest hurdle.  We have learned of several New England medical offices who are available and able to perform medical examinations:

Dr. Husam Shitia, MD

Medical Care Center of Cheshire

430 Highland Ave

Cheshire, CT 06410

Dr. John Leung

Boston Food Allergy Center

65 Harrison Avenue Suite 201

Boston MA 02111

617-804-6767

OccMed Consulting and Injury Care, LLC

10 Hawthorne Place, Suite 114

Boston, MA 02114

A complete list of all physicians in your area can be found at:https://my.uscis.gov/findadoctor.  You may contact any on the list to see if they are currently scheduling appointments.  Under no circumstances does Iandoli Desai & Cronin P.C. recommend any provider over another.  The names above simply are list of physicians we have been made aware are available.

USCIS announced that it is readying offices to re-open in compliance with local and state orders starting June 4, 2020. Employees in field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASC) continue to perform mission-critical services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public. We do not know if this reopening announcement will end the trend of USCIS waiving green card interviews due to COVID-19 so cannot guarantee that even if you schedule a medical exam now to respond to an RFE quickly it will result in an approval via mail. This trend may be short-lived so make your decision with that in mind. The health and safety of our clients is of utmost importance.

Iandoli Desai & Cronin P.C. will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.