Vaccination Records Translation for the US: I-693 Medical Exam, College, School and Work

The civil surgeon has your foreign vaccination booklet open, sees ЖКВ next to a date, and has to decide if you are protected against measles, mumps and rubella or need more shots. If nobody in the room can read it, the safe answer is to vaccinate again. A vaccination record translation exists to prevent that: it turns a booklet of abbreviations, stickers and stamps into a dated list of antigens that a US clinician can count.

Colleges, schools and employers have similar needs. This guide explains what each one expects, what the translation must show, how to decode the most common foreign abbreviations, and the date and formulation traps that get valid doses thrown out.

Who needs your vaccination record translated?

Do I need a certified translation of my vaccination records for the I-693?

You need a reliable English translation, and a certified one is the safest way to show it is reliable. CDC's Technical Instructions note that some civil surgeon offices can translate records themselves, but "the responsibility lies with the applicant to provide reliable English translations of all records."

Most people adjusting status in the US must file Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, completed by a civil surgeon. Since December 2, 2024, applicants who must submit it have to file it together with Form I-485, or the I-485 may be rejected. See our green card translation requirements for the rest of the package.

The vaccination part of the exam follows CDC's Technical Instructions. Applicants must show age-appropriate vaccination or immunity against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, rotavirus, Hib, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, varicella, pneumococcal disease and influenza. USCIS waived the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for adjustment applicants effective January 22, 2025.

What the civil surgeon can accept is strict:

• Documentation "must come from a vaccination record": a personal record or a medical chart entry made by appropriate medical personnel.
• Each dose needs "dates of receipt (month, day, and year)" to be acceptable.
• "Self-reported vaccine doses without written documentation are not acceptable."
• Vaccines received abroad are generally accepted if the schedule is consistent with ACIP recommendations.
• Laboratory evidence of immunity can substitute for measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, polio (titers for all three types) and varicella when there is no acceptable record.

So a translation that drops the day of a dose, or records "MMR: 2 doses, 2008" without exact dates, turns a valid foreign record into an unusable one. The civil surgeon then has to vaccinate or order blood tests, at your expense.

The translation is a working document for the civil surgeon, who records the acceptable doses on the I-693 and gives you a copy of the completed vaccination record. Under the USCIS Policy Manual, a properly completed I-693 signed on or after November 1, 2023 does not expire, although USCIS can ask for a new one if it has reason to believe your medical condition has changed.

Do colleges accept foreign vaccination records?

Most do, under state law and their own policies. New York's Public Health Law 2165 requires students born on or after January 1, 1957 to show immunity to measles, mumps and rubella, and CUNY applies it to students enrolled for six or more semester hours. CUNY's City Tech tells students plainly: "Students are responsible for obtaining an official translation of foreign records prior to submission." Expect similar rules elsewhere, especially for international students. Our college admissions translation page covers the rest of the application file.

Does a yellow fever certificate need translating?

Usually not. The WHO-format International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (the "yellow card") is built for border use, and the International Health Regulations say such certificates "shall be fully completed in English or in French," with another language allowed only in addition. Domestic booklets, such as a German Impfpass, may include an international section in that format alongside national pages that still need translating.

What must a vaccination record translation show?

For each dose, in order:

1. Vaccine as written, brand or abbreviation exactly as on the record, for example "Priorix."
2. Antigens in English, for example "measles, mumps, rubella," so the reader does not need to know foreign brands.
3. Date of administration in an unambiguous format, for example "March 5, 2019," never "05/03/2019."
4. Dose number and series notation, such as "dose 2" or "booster."
5. Batch or lot number and manufacturer, where shown.
6. Clinic or facility name and stamp.
7. Signature or initials of the provider, described in brackets where needed.

The header carries the patient's full name and date of birth exactly as in the passport. Handwritten notes about reactions, contraindications or disease history, such as "had chickenpox 2012," are translated too, because a reliable history of varicella means no further testing or vaccination under the Technical Instructions.

Decoding common foreign abbreviations

Post-Soviet records often mark primary doses V1, V2, V3 and boosters R1, R2. Translate the notation and explain it in a bracketed translator's note.

The traps that get doses rejected

Date order. Most countries write day/month/year, and China commonly writes year/month/day. A Children's Hospital of Philadelphia guide gives the example that "30/1/2016 would be January 30, 2016." When the day is 12 or lower, the error is invisible, so the translation must spell the month out.

Measles before the first birthday. Many countries give the first measles dose at 9 months. CDC says doses of measles-containing vaccine given before the first birthday "should not be counted" as part of the series. The translation cannot change that, but it must show the exact date so the clinician can apply the rule.

Oral polio from April 2016. Washington State's health department notes that oral polio vaccine switched from trivalent to bivalent in April 2016, and OPV given on or after that date does not count toward the US series. If the record does not say whether the polio dose was oral or injected, the translation should say so rather than guess.

Combination vaccines. Washington's guide warns that most "pentavalent" products abroad contain DTaP, hepatitis B and Hib, but some contain DTaP, IPV and Hib, and the definition is often printed at the bottom or back of the card. Translate that legend.

Checklist for vaccination record translation

Questions people ask