Marijuana, Green Cards, and Cross-Border Planning

For generations, immigrants to the U.S. have undergone a medical exam. For most, the exam has been an uneventful step in the long road to a green card. That medical exam is much more interesting now. The current CIS medical exam form (I-693) solicits information about prior drug use (Civil Surgeon Worksheet, Section 3).

The physician instructions that accompany the form discuss the circumstances under which drug abuse or addiction would be a medical ground for inadmissibility (denial of a green card application). What the medical exam form instructions do not explain is that there is also a  criminal ground for inadmissibility based on simple possession. Translation: in the course of explaining to the physician that you are not and never were addicted to marijuana, you concede that you used marijuana--and that can get you excluded. 'Sound a little unfair?? Welcome to the twisted world of marijuana and cross-border planning!