New citizens coming into the United States are likely to experience a sense of both excitement and nervousness as they complete the legal groundwork for a new life. A large part of that legal ground work includes immigration physicals that help evaluate if they can receive legal resident status.
If you’re an immigrant planning on going through the legal processes for residency, and eventually citizenship, you’ll need to get an updated physical. However, you’ll want to fully prepare for that physical before going in.
You’ll need various types of medical information in order to fully complete your physical. Additionally, there are other tips that may help your physical go off without any major snags:
Bring in a copy of your vaccination records and make sure you’re up-to-date on any vaccines
A significant part of immigration physicals and exams includes a comprehensive vaccination review by the medical examiner.
Make sure to get any and all vaccination records before the date of your exam. Additionally, you’ll want to review your vaccine history and make sure you’re up-to-date on all vaccinations. This is because a large part of passing an immigration physicals includes reviewing if you’re at risk of spreading communicable diseases like measles.
Have a copy of your medical records, x-rays, and similar info during your exam
If you have any health risks or chronic conditions, you’ll need to bring in any medical information to your immigration physical about these diseases.
The immigration physical is a comprehensive review of your overall health as well as how you’re managing any diseases. For example, if you have illnesses that require medication treatment, you’ll need to bring in a prescription record for the examiner.
Without these pieces of personal medical information, you may not pass the exam and could potentially create further delays in your immigration process.
Come into your exam with other forms of identification as well as payment
Because immigration processes require an extensive review of your identity, you’ll need any applicable forms of identification during the physical.
Make sure to come into your physical with a government-issued ID such as a driver’s license, work permit, passport, travel permit, or similar documentation. Additionally, you’ll want to have payment ready once your exam is complete.
Check with your nearby urgent care or walk-in clinic provider to see what their rates are for exams. Also check with your insurance provider to see if exams are covered under your policy. If not, make sure to have enough on you for the self-pay rate of the exam.
