While a normal cold will not prevent you from entering the United States with a visa or green card, more severe infectious illnesses, as well as problems that may lead you to hurt yourself or others, may.
Anyone seeking to visit or live in the United States, whether on a temporary visa or a permanent green card, must demonstrate that they do not pose a health danger to the broader population. These conditions are referred to as health-related grounds of inadmissibility. (See 42 CFR 34.2(e) for further information.)
You may be denied entry or stay in the United States if you have a “Class A” ailment, which indicates you:
have a communicable illness of public health importance but lack the necessary vaccines
Have a medical or mental illness that leads you to engage in potentially dangerous conduct to yourself or others, or have a history of substance misuse or addiction.
Even if you have never been diagnosed with an alcohol- or drug-related health problem, a history of alcohol- or drug-related arrests (for example, a DUI) or criminal crimes may result in you being deemed ineligible on health grounds.
Except for drug misuse and addiction, exemptions are available for all health-related reasons of inadmissibility.
The medical examination will also search for “Class B problems,” which are significant or persistent illnesses or impairments. Although they are unlikely to render you inadmissible, they may be substantial enough to impede with your capacity to care for yourself, attend school, or work; or they may need extensive future medical treatment or institutionalization. This creates a further inadmissibility concern: the possibility that you may be determined to be a “public charge,” or someone who will not be financially self-sufficient and will instead depend on government aid.
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How Your Medical Inadmissibility Will Be Discovered
In most cases, health-related inadmissibility concerns are revealed when immigration authorities investigate either:
Your responses to health-related questions in your visa or green card application form the basis for the results of your immigration medical examination (required for every immigrant—that is, permanent resident—visa or green card, as well as some temporary visitors), criminal and court records you submit with your application, and any other documents or information you provide at interviews and inspections.
Almost each application you submit, whether for a temporary (nonimmigrant) or immigrant visa, will need you to answer questions about your health. The questions on the paperwork concerning your history of infectious illness, drug misuse, and physical and mental issues are all related to your probable inadmissibility on health grounds.
What to Expect During the Mandatory Immigration Medical Exam
The physician will most likely evaluate your medical record, vaccines, chest X-rays, and test findings, as well as do a physical examination, during an immigration medical examination. If you are seeking to enter and remain permanently in the United States from outside the country, you must have a physical examination performed by a physician certified by the Department of State.
If you are currently in the United States and want to apply for permanent residence (adjustment of status), you must undergo a physical examination conducted by a physician approved by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The doctor will provide the necessary vaccines (including COVID-19) and write a report detailing the medical results for the immigration authorities.
Inadmissibility Based on Communicable Disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains a list of communicable illnesses that prevent persons from entering the United States.
A variety of quarantinable illnesses are on the list, including cholera, plague, smallpox, and yellow fever, as well as leprosy, TB, and any new or pandemic flu. It also covers any diseases designated by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency of worldwide significance (WHO). Coronavirus, or COVID-19, meets all of the aforementioned requirements. HIV was formerly on the ineligibility list, however it was subsequently removed.
The physician doing your medical checkup (if any) will question you about specific ailments based on the nations you’ve lived in or visited. In addition, the doctor will go through your medical history, blood tests, and chest X-rays for signs of communicable infections.
Physical or mental illness is a reason for inadmissibility.
You may be ineligible if you have a medical or mental illness that causes you to engage in activity that is hazardous to property, safety, or public welfare. Harmful conduct is defined as psychological or bodily harm to the applicant or another person (which includes anything from suicide attempts to pedophilia), a danger to health or safety (such as driving while inebriated or threatening to murder someone), or severe property damage. You will not be denied admission based solely on your mental disorder.
Even if you are no longer suffering from a hazardous condition, you may be denied admission if the disease is likely to recur. Even if you have no past diagnosis or record of any problems, a history of offenses involving alcohol and drugs, such as assaults and domestic violence, may result in a referral for a mental assessment and, eventually, a determination of inadmissibility.
A history of alcohol-related crimes, as well as any other signs of alcohol misuse, such as driving while intoxicated, may result in a referral to a physician to assess if you have an alcohol-related mental or physical condition that causes dangerous conduct. Anything more than a single drunk driving arrest or conviction may result in a medical recommendation.
Ground of Inadmissibility: Drug Abuse and Addiction
A history of drug misuse or addiction will prevent you from entering the United States for health reasons. Drug abuse is typically described as anything that goes beyond simple experimentation. In general, experimenting is just one use. Drug abuse is defined as more than one non-medical usage of a prohibited substance. Normally, the physician doing the medical examination will only give a drug test if he or she believes it is required in the individual’s instance.
If you have any drug or alcohol-related offenses or convictions on your record, you should contact with an immigration attorney before applying for a visa or residence in the United States. These elements on your record may also render you inadmissible on the basis of criminal or controlled drug trafficking.
Vaccinations and Exclusion
Applicants for green cards or immigrant visas (but not temporary visas) must be immunized against a variety of illnesses, including influenza, measles, mumps, and rubella. The most current vaccine on the list is the coronavirus or COVID-19 immunization, which is needed for immigrant visa applicants, K fiancé(e) visa applicants, and certain nonimmigrant visa applicants.
(For a complete list, see the USCIS website on Vaccination Requirements.)
The influenza vaccination will be necessary only if you visit the United States during flu season, which runs from October through March each year.
Bring the following immunization records to your immigration medical exam: You may avoid having them again and paying for them if you show the doctor documentation of your previous immunizations! Your doctor will decide which immunizations are suitable for your age.
Internationally adopted children under the age of 10 do not need to be immunized before entering the United States. They will, however, be needed to complete their vaccines within 30 days of arrival. Vaccinations that are incompatible with your religious convictions will not be necessary.
Pregnancy Can Be a Problem for Some Visitor Visa Applicants
Pregnancy, although not an absolute basis of inadmissibility, may result non the refusal of a woman’s application for a B-2 guest visa. This is due to a 2020 U.S. State Department (DOS) adjustment to its laws aimed at limiting “birth tourism,” or the practice of traveling to the United States to give birth in order for the kid to automatically receive U.S. citizenship.
According to the new regulation, a noncitizen who gives birth while her tourist visa is active is believed to be visiting the US for the intention of acquiring US citizenship for the child.
If you are pregnant and want to apply for a tourist visa, you must demonstrate that you have another legal purpose for visiting the United States or that you do not plan to give birth there in order to seek citizenship for your child.