Importantly, effective November 3, 2019, Department of State (DOS) offices abroad were going to start implementing the new health insurance requirement for permanent immigration (Green Card) applicants undergoing Consular Processing at U.S. consulates. Under this new adjudication criteria, a U.S. consular officer would be able to deny an immigrant visa benefit to an individual without health insurance in the U.S. and is (in the officer’s opinion) unlikely to obtain unsubsidized by U.S. taxpayers health benefits in this country. This new adjudication threshold were to apply to immigrant visa applicants at U.S. consular offices only and were not to affect Adjustment of Status applicants with USCIS. The last minute injunction from the courts has put implementation of this measure on hold for the time being.
Department of State