The immigration medical exam is mandatory medical conducted by a USCIS approved civil surgeon on green card applicants or for applicants seeking certain non immigrant visas and in certain cases asylees as well. In the United States, a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS approved Civil Surgeon conducts it. While outside the US, a physician on the panel of USCIS conducts it. A regular family physician cannot complete the i693 form.
For adjustment of status, the applicant needs to submit i693 form with i485 form to register for Permanent Residence or to adjust their status.
Applicants usually fill out their immigration forms themselves; however, the i693 needs to be filled by the Civil Surgeon conducting the immigration medical exam. The USCIS will use the information disclosed in the form to determine the residential status of the applicant in the US.
Applicants who need to file for adjustment of their status to that of permanent residence in the US need to submit the i693 form which is signed by Civil Surgeon who conducts their immigration medical exam.

I693 form is needed to report the results of the medical examination to the USCIS. It is also mandatory to submit this form to establish the fact that the applicant is not inadmissible to the United States on the grounds of public health and safety.
The i693 matters because according to the immigration and nationality act certain medical grounds can be used for denial of immigrations into the US. There is a series of different types of tests and evaluation carried out which is important to know whether the applicant is admissible to the United States or not.
To begin with, there’s a Tuberculin Skin Test to detect Tuberculosis. Once this test is carried out, the applicant needs to wait for the reaction to the test which helps determine the applicant’s exposure to TB. The reaction shows up within 72 hours usually. If the reaction patch on the skin is more, the applicant needs a chest x ray and further testing for TB. The results will be recorded in the form.
There are other tests such as the serologic blood test for Syphilis and HIV. A body check up is done to check for communicable diseases such as Leprosy, Gonorrhea or other types of Venereal Diseases. These form the other sections of the i693 form and will be filled in as and how the results are received.
A thorough evaluation of the applicant’s mental health is done. The civil surgeon will ask a list of questions and carefully go through your medical records.
The final test which is the last section of the i693 form is the required vaccination. The vaccines administered are those of mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus, diphtheria toxoids, hepatitis B, varicella, haemophilius inlfuenzae type B, measles, pertussis, influenza type B, and pneumococcal. If you were vaccinated before, carry those records along. You can obtain those certificates from your health care provider.
Do not fill the i693 yourself. Civil Surgeons on easyIME will fill in your details in the i693 form and download it and print the error free form for you. For the medical, make sure that you bring previous medical records, records of earlier vaccinations and if you’re pregnant, carry a certificate of your pregnancy from your physician.
The results of the medical are usually valid for a period of 12 months.
Once the exam is completed, the civil surgeon signs the completed form and hands it over to the applicant along with the test results in a sealed envelope. The USCIS will immediately reject the results if the form is not sealed or appears to be tampered with. It is the applicant’s responsibility to deliver the envelope within a week’s time at the office of the USCIS.
If you have any queries, questions or doubts regarding your immigration medical exam, you can always reach an easyIME representative at 888-437-6797 or write to us at imesupport@esmsys.com.
easyIME.com is a free service, which streamlines the immigration medical process for green card aspirants by helping them locate the right Immigration Doctors and schedule their USCIS immigration medical exam online. Green card aspirants can also find immigration lawyers near their zip code through this service.