Integrity Legal

In a previous post on this blog we discussed how the Center for Disease Control, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), is in the process of taking HIV off of the list of diseases that will bar entry into the USA. Recently, it has come to this author’s attention that the vaccine for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) will no longer be a requirement for those seeking to immigrate to the United States of America. Under the current regulations, it is required that all applicants seeking an Immigrant visa, or a non-immigrant dual intent visa such as a K1 visa or K3 visa, are required to be vaccinated against HPV if they are under the age of 26 at the time of application. This requirement can lead to considerable expense for those wishing to obtain United States Immigration benefits.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), recently released information from the Final Notice on Criteria for Vaccination Requirements, the follow are excerpts from that notice:

“On April 8, 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a notice in the Federal Register (74 FR 15986) seeking public comment on proposed criteria that CDC intends to use to determine which vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the general U.S. population should be required for immigrants seeking admission into the United States or seeking adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. This final notice describes the criteria that CDC has adopted.”

The notice goes on to discuss the criteria that the CDC and US Immigration officials use to determine whether or not intending immigrants should be required to get a vaccination. After a detailed analysis of the guidelines, policy, and regulations the report concludes:

“Therefore, because HPV does not meet the adopted criteria, it will not be a required vaccine for immigrant and adjustment of status to permanent residence applicants.”

The proposed rule will likely be effective early in 2010. However, it should be noted that until the rule is finalized the current rules and regulations still stand. Therefore, those intending immigrant being interviewed at the time of this writing must still get the required HPV vaccination if they are under the prescribed age. Currently, this is not a requirement for tourist visas, student visas, and exchange visitor visas as such travel documents are classified as non-immigrant. Even though the K1 fiance visa and K3 marriage visa are technically non-immigrant visas they are treated as immigrant visas for the purposes of the aforementioned rule because these visas allow for dual non-immigrant and immigrant intent.

Tags: American Visa Thailand, Fiance Visa Thailand, HPV Vaccine, K1 Visa Thailand, US Visa Thailand, USA Visa Thailand