A new requirement has been added to the processing for U.S. visas of any kind, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has established that anyone wishing to obtain a visa must have completed the full COVID-19 vaccination schedule:

"Effective October 1, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Technical Instructions for Panel Clinicians require that all immigrant visa applicants receive the full COVID-19 vaccination series as part of their medical examination before being issued a visa."

In addition to this, the CDC requires that it be a World Health Organization (WHO) or U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccine. The only reasons for this not to be mandatory is if the applicant's country does not have access to the vaccine, the person does not meet the age requirement (i.e., in the case of minors) or suffers from an allergy to the components of the solution.

However, the State Department has invited all visa applicants to get vaccinated as soon as possible to avoid experiencing delays in the processing of this important U.S. document. Here is the list of vaccines accepted by WHO:

-Pfizer/BioNTech
-Moderna
-Janssen (from Johnson & Johnson)
-AstraZeneca
-Sinopharm
-Sinovac

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