Part of the immigration process for individuals who are applying to receive their green card
is a medical exam. During that medical exam,
the civil surgeon will determine what vaccinations are required. Vaccinations
and having that medical exam, that's all part of the requirements of receiving a green card.
The question we receive a lot has to do with vaccinations. What vaccinations are
required, what do I need to take to my medical exam, what if I don't have my vaccination records, what
can I expect. In this video, I want to dive into those topics and give you clarity about
vaccination requirements and background regarding vaccination requirements and what you can expect
As I mentioned, the medical exam is one of the requirements to receiving
a green card. The medical exam is administered by a doctor who's been appointed by immigration to
complete the exam. Those doctors are referred to as civil surgeons. The CDC, the Center
for Disease Control is the organization that determines what those requirements are, based on
whatever is happening in the world. What's happened in the past and those are constantly evolving.
But the CDC sets the requirements for vaccination requirements. The civil surgeon
will be using those CDC requirements to determine what vaccinations they need.
That is determined by a person's age and whether or not they've had vaccinations in the past.
If you don't have your vaccination records anymore, don't panic. If you have your vaccination
records, bring those with you to the medical exam. But if you don't have them, like I said, don't
panic. The civil surgeon will determine what you need. A fun fact is that the civil surgeon
can perform a blood test. They can actually determine whether or not you actually have had a
vaccination or rather whether or not you have antibodies in your system. They can make a
judgment about what vaccinations you'll need. That's why I said don't panic if you don't have
your vaccination records. A lot of people don't have them when they go to the medical exam
If you don't know that, the doctor will be able to do that test to determine what
vaccinations you need. With that blood test. Also, with the CDC
requirements, the civil surgeon will determine based on your age, based on your immunology
these are the vaccinations that we will need to administer for you at today's medical exam.
Another important thing I wanted to note, we have a lot of people
and we love that you want to be prepared but we have a lot of people ask, "Should I go to my
family doctor? Should I get all my vaccinations before? Will that help speed up the process?"
The answer is no, it's not required. We always like to give you the least amount
of steps and find the most efficient path for our clients. Like I mentioned
the simple surgeon is going to take care of that at your medical exam. If you really feel compelled
that you want to go to your family doctor, if you want to get your vaccination records, that would
be great. But there isn't a requirement that you get any vaccinations before the medical exam.
The civil surgeon will take care of all of that. One less step for you. Knowing that you don't have to
go to a doctor's appointment before your medical exam. One final note for K1 applicants,
for individuals who are doing a fiancé visa process, you also have a medical exam abroad
before you receive your fiancé visa. Something unique to K1 fiancé visa applicants
is that you aren't required to receive your vaccinations before entering the United States.
However at the medical exam, the civil surgeon will give you the option to receive
your vaccinations at that appointment. We highly recommend that you go ahead and do that.
Typically, it's cheaper to have them done at that medical exam. Another great reason is
that it's going to save you time. You're going to be entering the United States on your fiancé visa.
You have 90 days to get married and then file your green card application. You have a
lot of things to do and so, it would be great to not have to add going to another medical exam
and having vaccinations done in the US. Just a little tip, if during that medical exam
they'll offer to give you the vaccinations you need, it would be ideal to just go ahead
and get that taken care of. Those are just some really quick tips and an overview of the
vaccination requirements. I will post in the notes below the link to the CDC frequently
asked questions page and that will give you some insight as to current requirements. But again,
you don't need to do any research. The civil surgeon will take care of all of that at your
medical exam. Best of luck with your case. If you like this video please give
it a thumbs up and if you're watching this on our Facebook group, please do a hashtag replay.