Immigration Medical Exam (I-693) in Clayton, MO

The medical exam, a short drive from your attorney’s office

Clayton is the seat of St. Louis County and the center of its legal community, so a great many green-card applicants first hear the words “Form I-693” in an office here. The exam that follows does not have to be complicated or far away. The clinic is fifteen minutes north on I-170, appointments open within days, and applicants who arrive with their paperwork, testing and immunization records in order leave the same day with the sealed USCIS envelope.

What happens at the appointment

The I-693 is the medical report USCIS requires from most adjustment-of-status applicants, and only a physician the government has designated as a civil surgeon may complete and seal it. In a single appointment we take your history, perform the focused examination USCIS specifies, review your immunization record and administer whatever doses are missing, and collect the required tuberculosis, syphilis and gonorrhea testing on site. Set aside 2 to 6 hours. The form is sealed at whichever visit your paperwork, testing and immunizations are all complete — the first visit, if you come prepared. The full fee and timeline breakdown is published here, and the vaccine list is broken out by age.

What the exam costs

The Form I-693 examination is $390, flat: a $100 non-refundable scheduling fee when you book, and $290 due at the visit. That is the complete professional fee — there is no separate charge for completing or sealing the form.

Laboratory testing and any vaccines you actually turn out to need are billed separately, and deliberately are not quoted as a package price. Lab rates are set by the laboratory and vaccine cost depends entirely on which doses your record shows you are missing; quoting a bundled figure would overcharge the many applicants who need less. Applicants who prefer to run laboratory testing or imaging through their own insurance pay the rate their insurer has negotiated. The $390 examination fee itself is not billed to insurance.

A follow-up visit, if one is genuinely needed, is $190. It applies only when something is actually outstanding — a medical reason, or an applicant who arrived without complete records. When the first presentation is complete, there is nothing further to pay.

Why the federal designation matters

Any licensed physician can perform a physical; almost none can sign an I-693. USCIS accepts the form only from a doctor it has specifically designated, and a form completed by the wrong person — or completed incorrectly by the right one — surfaces months later as a Request for Evidence. Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda is a DHS-designated civil surgeon, CSID 111051, and is board-certified by five American specialty boards. Because the designation is federal, the sealed envelope is accepted at any USCIS office in the country.

Getting here from Clayton

From downtown Clayton, take I-170 north to 4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 102 — roughly fifteen minutes, directly beside St. Louis Lambert International Airport, with parking at the building. Washington University’s Danforth campus sits along Forsyth Boulevard at Clayton’s eastern edge, so the drive is much the same for students and postdoctoral scholars adjusting status.

Who we see from Clayton

Employment-based applicants, family petitions, and university-affiliated scholars and their spouses — often on a schedule that has very little slack in it. Plan for 2 to 6 hours and bring everything listed below, and one visit is normally all it takes.

N-648, if the citizenship test is the obstacle

Where a medical or mental-health condition prevents an applicant from completing the English and civics requirement, the N-648 disability waiver is a separate evaluation that can excuse it. We perform these in house, and in the applicant’s own language where that makes the assessment more accurate.

Where Clayton applicants can catch up on missing vaccines

Incomplete or unverifiable immunization records are the single most common reason an I-693 runs past one visit — check the age-by-age requirements and audit your records before you book. Missing doses can be given here during your exam, or at a public clinic beforehand. Clayton is in St. Louis County, so the county health centers are the public option; from Clayton the North Central center in Pine Lawn is the nearer of the two.

The county centers operate a walk-in vaccine clinic and apply a sliding fee discount for uninsured patients under 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Their published policy is to serve patients “regardless of their ability to pay,” although a nominal fee is still expected at the time of service. Insurance and Medicaid are accepted.

Hours and fees at public agencies change without much notice; call before you drive. Driving directions from Clayton to 4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 102.

Nearby: St. Louis · St. Louis City · Ferguson · Berkeley · Illinois applicants

Frequently asked questions

Where to go

Clinic map & directions · Meet Dr. Padda, your civil surgeon