How Holidays Affect Processing Time

Form I-693 processing time is measured in business days — days when our office is open and operating. Federal holidays and any days our clinic is closed do not count as business days. This means that if your appointment falls on the day before a holiday, or if a holiday falls within your processing window, your form will take longer to be ready than it would during a normal week.

For example, if your appointment is on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and you selected Standard 3-Day Processing, your three business days would not include Thanksgiving Thursday or the following Friday if our office is closed. Your form might not be ready until the following Monday or Tuesday — several calendar days later than you might expect.

This is an important consideration for applicants who are working toward a specific I-485 filing date or USCIS interview. A holiday that falls within your processing window can push your ready date back by one to several days, which could affect your overall immigration timeline.

Major Holidays That Can Affect Processing

The following federal holidays and common office closure periods are the most likely to affect Form I-693 processing timelines. Plan ahead if your appointment falls near any of these dates.

• New Year's Day (January 1) and the surrounding days
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day (third Monday in January)
• Presidents' Day (third Monday in February)
• Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
• Independence Day (July 4)
• Labor Day (first Monday in September)
• Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November) and the day after
• Christmas Day (December 25) and the surrounding days

How to Plan Around Holiday Closures

The best strategy for avoiding holiday-related delays is to schedule your immigration medical examination earlier than you normally would when a holiday is approaching. If you know a major holiday is coming up within the next week or two, try to schedule your appointment at least a week before the holiday to ensure your form is ready well in advance.

If you are working with an immigration attorney, ask them to factor holiday closures into your overall case timeline. Attorneys who regularly handle adjustment of status cases are familiar with the impact of holidays on medical exam processing and can advise you on the best scheduling strategy.

Expedited Processing Around Holidays

If you have a deadline that falls near a holiday period, our 2-Day Expedited Processing option can help minimize the impact of holiday closures. By reducing your processing time from 3 business days to 2 business days, you gain one additional business day of buffer — which can make a meaningful difference when holidays are involved.

However, even with expedited processing, holidays still extend the calendar time between your appointment and when your form is ready. If you have a hard deadline — such as a USCIS interview date or an RFE response deadline — contact our office to discuss your specific situation and confirm whether your timeline is achievable given any upcoming holidays.

Accounting for Holidays in Your I-485 Filing Timeline

When planning your I-485 filing timeline, always check whether any federal holidays fall between your planned medical exam appointment and your intended filing date. A single holiday can add one to two calendar days to your processing window, and a holiday week — such as the week of Thanksgiving or the period between Christmas and New Year's — can add several days.

As a general rule, build at least one to two weeks of buffer between your medical exam appointment and your I-485 filing date or USCIS interview. This buffer accommodates not only potential holiday delays but also any unexpected laboratory result delays or other processing issues. The more buffer you have, the less stressful your timeline will be.

Confirming Our Holiday Schedule

Our holiday schedule may vary from year to year. Before scheduling your appointment around a holiday period, contact our office to confirm our specific closure dates and hours. This is especially important for holidays that fall on different days each year, such as Thanksgiving, or for office closures that may extend beyond the federal holiday itself.

Our staff will be happy to confirm our schedule and help you choose an appointment date that gives you the best chance of receiving your completed Form I-693 within your needed timeline.