On October 30, 2009 President Obama signed into law the Ryan White HIV/ AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 which once again makes aliens with HIV admissible into the U.S. On November 2, 2009 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule amending regulations to remove HIV from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance. The regulation also removed references to HIV from the scope of medical examinations of aliens. The HHS final rule will become effective January 4, 2010.
Earlier this year, the USCIS issued guidance instructing adjudicating officers to hold in abeyance any greencard application which would be denied under current law, if the only ground of inadmissibility is that the applicant has been diagnosed with HIV infection. Klasko Law will continue to provide updates on the issuance of guidance from USCIS to reflect this change in the law.
