Justification

JUSTIFICATION FOR EMERGENCY REVIEW

Immigrant Health Insurance Coverage

The Presidential Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Who Will Financially Burden the United States Healthcare System (“PP 9945”) was signed on October 4, 2019. Proclamation No. 9945, 84 FR 53991 (Oct. 4, 2019). PP 9945 requires immigrant visa applicants to establish, to the satisfaction of a consular officer, that the applicant will be covered by an approved health insurance plan within 30 days of entry into the United States, unless the applicant possesses sufficient financial resources to cover reasonably foreseeable medical costs, or if an exception in Section 2(b) applies. Section 3 of the Proclamation authorizes the Secretary of State to establish standards and procedures for governing such determinations. Emergency review of this information collection is necessary for the Department to implement PP 9945 when it goes into effect on November 3, 2019. The Department cannot reasonably comply with the normal procedures by the implementation deadline of November 3, 2019.

The Department has therefore determined that:

1. This collection is needed prior to the expiration of time periods normally associated with a routine submission for review under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act;

2. This collection is essential to the mission of the Department of State; and

3. The use of normal clearance procedures would prevent the Department from complying with PP 9945 when it takes effect on November 3, 2019.

Therefore, the Department of State requests emergency OMB review and approval for this collection by October 25, 2019.