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Overseas Procedures

Purpose of the Exam

The purpose of the medical examination* is to determine the health status of a refugee and whether the refugee has:

  1. A Class A condition: a physical or mental disorder (including communicable diseases of public health significance or drug abuse addiction); or
  2. A Class B condition: a physical or mental disorder that although not constituting a specific excludable condition, represents a departure from normal health or well being that is significant enough to possibly interfere with the persons ability to care for himself or herself or to attend school or work or that may require extensive medical treatment or institutionalization in the future.
Class A conditions include:
  • Active or infectious tuberculosis
  • Untreated syphilis
  • Untreated chancroid
  • Untreated gonorrhea
  • Untreated granuloma inguinale
  • Untreated lymphogranuloma venereum
  • Human Immunodeficiency virus
  • Hansens Disease (Leprosy)
  • Addiction or abuse of specific substances with harmful behavior and/or any physical or mental disorder with harmful behavior or history of such behavior, along with the likelihood that the behavior will recur
Class B conditions include:
  • Inactive or non infectious tuberculosis
  • Treated syphilis
  • Other sexually transmitted diseases
  • Pregnancy
  • Treated, tuberculoid, borderline or paucibacilary Hansen’s disease
  • Sustained, full remission of abuse of specific substances and/or any physical or mental disorder (excluding addiction or abuse of specific substances but including other substance-related disorders) without harmful behavior or history of such behavior considered unlikely to recur (amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, opioids, phencyclidines, sedative hypnotics, and anxiolytics

Source: Refugee Health Frequently Asked Questions

*Note:

  1. This screening may take place up to a year before entrance into the United States
  2. A person may be infected with an infectious and/or chronic disease not detected in the initial medical screening. Therefore, many diseases/disorders may not be detected prior to arrival into the U.S.
What treatment is being provided prior to arrival in US?

The tables on provided on the next page provide information on countries whose refugees are receiving pre-departure treatment for some vaccine preventable disease, intestinal parasites, and malaria.

  • Table 1a. Pre-departure Treatments for U.S.-bound Refugees
  • Table 1b. Presumptive Pre-departure Treatment Regimens for Intestinal Parasites
  • Table 2. Dosing of anti-malarials that may be considered for presumptive or directed* treatment of P. falciparum malaria in sub-Saharan refugees after arrival in the U.S.
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