November 15, 2018: Effective November 1, 2018, USCIS revised its policy guidance on the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, commonly referred to as the “medical exam.” According to the updated policy, USCIS will require applicants to submit this form (signed by a USCIS-approved civil surgeon) no more than 60 days before the applicant files the underlying application for an immigrant benefit – which generally means the I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status for most NC State foreign national employees who are sponsored for permanent residence by their hiring units.

Anyone who is eligible to file Form I-485 needs to makes sure this his/her I-693 medical exam wasn’t signed more than 60 days before the filing date of Form I-485. Although the I-693 medical exam will remain valid for a two-year period following the date the civil surgeon signed it, USCIS officers still have the discretion to request a new Form I-693 if they have reason to believe the applicant may be inadmissible on health-related grounds.

For more information, please see https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-policy-manual-update; and https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/Updates/20181016-I-693Validity.pdf