USCIS now requires Form I-693 medical report to be submitted with Form I-485

As of today, December 2, 2024, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) is requiring Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record to be submitted with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. If Form I-693 is not submitted with the Form I-485, USCIS can reject the entire filing. USCIS has updated the Form I-485 instructions to reflect this change.

This is a departure from USCIS’ previous practice of allowing the I-485 to be filed without the medical exam, and either issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) for the medical, or allowing the applicant to bring the medical to a USCIS interview.

Form I-693 is required to demonstrate to the government that the applicant is free from health conditions that would make them inadmissible based on health-related grounds.

The full announcement can be found here.

© Jewell Stewart Pratt Beckerson & Carr PC 2024

New edition of Form I-131 effective 10/11/2024

On October 11, 2024, USCIS will publish a new edition of Form I-131 (edition 06/17/2024). The form will be renamed “Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records.” There is no filing grace period for the new form due to the significant changes to the form (now 14 pages long!), so any I-131s postmarked on or after 10/11/2024 must be this newest edition. Full announcement can be found here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-131

© Jewell Stewart Pratt Beckerson & Carr PC 2024

Entry for 2026 Diversity Visa Lottery program opens October 2, 2024

Updated November 4, 2024

The U.S. Department of State’s instructions for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2026) are now available and entries must be submitted electronically between Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)(GMT-4) and Tuesday, November 7, 2024, at 12:00 Noon, Eastern Standard Time (EDT)(GMT-5). Submission of more than one entry for a person during the registration period will disqualify all entries for that person.

For DV-2026, persons who are natives of the following countries and areas are not eligible to apply:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR)*, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

*Natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

Note: United Kingdom and its dependent territories are eligible for DV-2026.

Eligibility requirements and entry instructions are on the U.S. Department of State’s website here: Diversity Visa Instructions.

The congressionally-mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered annually by the Department of State under Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This law provides for a class of immigrants known as diversity immigrants, with visas made available to persons from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For fiscal year 2026, up to 55,000 diversity visas will be available.

© Jewell Stewart Pratt Beckerson & Carr PC 2024