(WZTV) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency announced on Tuesday COVID-19 vaccine requirements for immigrants looking to enter the country.

USCIS has updated guidance which will require applicants subjected to an immigration medical examination to prove health-related grounds of admissibility by being fully vaccinated for COVID-19. The requirement will go into effect on Oct. 1, 2021 and comes as thousands of Afghan refugees are expected to resettle in the United States.

The requirement will be added to policy which already dictates immigrant applicants must prove they are free from any conditions which would make them inadmissible. Physicians who serve as civil surgeons conduct medical examinations and review vaccination records.

These civil surgeons will now require documentation from immigrant applicants proving they have been fully vaccinated before performing medical examinations.

Civil surgeons will be allowed to apply blanket waivers for cases where immigrants are not age appropriate or in cases where it would cause significant delay for the applicant to receive the vaccine, according to officials.