Your vaccination records are part of your immigration medical documentation, and the civil surgeon must determine whether the records you provide are credible enough to support the vaccination information documented on your Form I-693.
In this article we reveal how civil surgeons at Recharge Medical in San Francisco look at this question.
The goal is not simply to convince the civil surgeon that you probably received your vaccines. The goal is to provide strong, credible evidence that can support the civil surgeon's certification to USCIS.
Think of this as a legal documentation and immigration issue, not just a medical one.
If your immigration file is reviewed or audited in the future, a USCIS officer will look at the evidence used to document your vaccination history. The question is not only did this person probably receive these vaccines? The question is also will this documentation convince a USCIS officer that the vaccine records are authentic, reliable, and sufficient to establish that these vaccines were actually administered?
Will USCIS accept vaccine records from any country?
USCIS may accept official vaccination records from any country. Records do not have to come from the United States to be considered valid.
Vaccination records may also be written in another language. Many civil surgeons are able to translate your records on their own, but it can be helpful to provide your civil surgeon with translations. If you do bring a translation of your records, be sure to also bring in the original records used for the translation. Your civil surgeon will be required to keep those in your file.
In general, a strong vaccination record should clearly identify:
- Your full name or other identifying information that clearly links the record to you.
- The name of each vaccine that was administered.
- The complete date of administration, including the date, month, and year.
- The healthcare provider, clinic, hospital, school, or government health authority associated with the vaccination record.
- Evidence that the record is an official or credible document, such as an official letterhead, government seal, clinic stamp, provider signature, or immunization registry record.
- Information that is legible and appears authentic and unaltered.
Think about the USCIS officer who may review your case
When gathering your vaccination records, don't think only about what you can bring to convince your civil surgeon that you received your vaccines.
Instead, ask yourself:
What documentation can I provide that would enable a USCIS officer to confidently conclude that this patient received these vaccines?
This is an important distinction.
A civil surgeon may be able to understand your medical history because you explain what happened or because you remember receiving certain vaccines as a child. However, USCIS requires the civil surgeon to document vaccination compliance based on a higher standard of acceptable evidence as outlined in the USCIS technical instructions.
What vaccine records are acceptable?
There are many different types of vaccination records that may be useful when completing the Form I-693. Examples include:
- Official state or national immunization registry records, such as an immunization registry printout from a state health department or a national healthcare system.
- Medical records from a physician's office, hospital, or clinic that are printed on official letterhead and identify the patient, vaccines, and dates of administration.
- Childhood vaccination records or vaccine books that were completed by healthcare providers over time and contain vaccine stickers, dates, provider initials, signatures, or official clinic stamps.
- Official school or university immunization records that document vaccinations required for enrollment or attendance.
- Government-issued vaccine passports or national vaccination booklets issued by a health authority.
- Official vaccination records from a healthcare system outside the United States that clearly identify the patient and provide the dates and types of vaccines administered.
For example, a government immunization registry printout that clearly identifies you and lists your vaccinations with complete administration dates is generally much stronger evidence than a handwritten list created by a family member.
Likewise, a childhood vaccine book containing vaccine labels, dates, and provider initials or stamps may be useful evidence, particularly when the information appears to have been entered over time as the vaccinations were administered.
The key issue is not simply the type of document. The civil surgeon must consider whether USCIS will consider the record credible, reliable, and sufficient to document the vaccination history.
What vaccine records are less likely to be acceptable?
Not every document that lists a vaccine will necessarily be accepted as reliable evidence. Examples of records that may raise concerns include:
- A handwritten or typed list of vaccines created by you or a family member.
- A document that does not clearly identify the patient.
- A record that does not provide full vaccination dates.
- A record with missing or incomplete information that cannot be verified.
- A vaccine book that appears to have been filled out all at once many years after the vaccinations supposedly occurred.
- Records with unexplained alterations, correction fluid (white-out), overwritten dates, or inconsistent handwriting.
- A document that appears to have information added after it was originally signed or issued.
- Records containing dates or vaccination histories that are inconsistent or medically implausible.
- Any document that appears to have been altered, modified, or otherwise manipulated.
This does not necessarily mean that every incomplete record is fraudulent or that every old vaccine book will be rejected. Old medical records can naturally be incomplete, especially when they come from childhood or from countries where medical recordkeeping systems were different.
However, if a document raises questions about its authenticity or reliability, the civil surgeon may not be able to use it as sufficient evidence of vaccination.
A useful way to think about your records is this:
If a reasonable person who has never met you looked at the document and asked, “Is this legitimate?” then a USCIS officer reviewing your immigration file could potentially ask the same question.
What if my vaccine record is incomplete?
Do not assume that an incomplete vaccine record means you have no options.
Bring all of the records you can find to your civil surgeon, even if you believe they are incomplete. A partial vaccination record may still provide valuable information about which vaccines you have received and when you received them.
Depending on your circumstances, the civil surgeon may be able to use the documentation you have, consider laboratory evidence of immunity when appropriate, or recommend additional vaccination.
For many vaccines, receiving an additional dose may be an appropriate solution when reliable documentation cannot be found. This is one reason it is important to have your vaccination records reviewed by a qualified civil surgeon rather than you or AI determining your requirements based solely on a list you find online.
The vaccination requirements for Form I-693 are not always as simple as checking whether you have received “a vaccine.” The civil surgeon must consider your age, the vaccine schedule, the timing between doses, the type of vaccine, the available documentation, and the specific technical instructions that apply to the immigration medical examination.
One special case: chickenpox (varicella)
Varicella, commonly known as chickenpox, is different from other vaccines listed on the Form I-693 vaccination requirements.
For varicella, USCIS allows a credible history of previous chickenpox disease to be documented instead of requiring vaccination in appropriate circumstances.
If you previously had chickenpox, tell your civil surgeon. The more specific and credible your history, the more useful it may be.
You may be asked about:
- Approximately how old you were when you had chickenpox.
- Approximately how long the illness lasted.
- Whether other people you knew had chickenpox.
A credible history of previous varicella infection may allow the civil surgeon to document the varicella requirement without requiring vaccination. However, the civil surgeon must determine whether the history is sufficiently credible based on the circumstances and applicable USCIS requirements.
Why your vaccine records matter
Many applicants spend significant time searching for old vaccine records only to discover that the documents they find are incomplete or cannot be reliably used for their Form I-693.
Other applicants make the opposite mistake. They assume that any document listing a vaccine will automatically be accepted.
Neither approach is ideal.
The civil surgeon has a responsibility to evaluate the vaccination evidence available and determine whether it is sufficient to document compliance with the applicable USCIS requirements. This is not simply a matter of checking boxes on a form.
Your vaccination records should tell a clear and credible story.
Ideally, the documentation should allow someone reviewing your immigration file to understand who received the vaccine, which vaccine was administered, when it was administered, and where the information came from.
Remember that your Form I-693 is an immigration document, not just a medical record. The information you provide will remain part of your immigration file.
When preparing for your immigration medical examination, bring every vaccination record you can find. Even if a record is incomplete, it may still provide useful information that helps your civil surgeon determine the best way to document your vaccination history.
The goal should not be to find the minimum amount of documentation you can get away with.
The goal should be to provide the strongest, most credible evidence available to demonstrate that you have met the vaccination requirements for your Form I-693.
If you're in San Francisco or the San Francisco Bay Area, our expert civil surgeons at Recharge Medical are available to help you with your vaccine records during your I-693 Green Card Medical Exam.