The US State Department said foreigners who apply for a visa or permanent residency in that country could be denied if they had chronic health conditions like diabetes, obesity, or heart disease.
The Trump administration sent the directive to U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, instructing visa officers to weigh medical factors more heavily when determining an applicant’s admissibility.
According to reporting by KFF Health News, new rules now require officials to consider whether applicants’ health conditions make them likely to become a “public charge”-that is, a burden on US resources because of medical costs or dependence on government support.
Stricter Medical Screening for Visa and Green Card Applicants
It covers virtually every category of visa, although it is going to be enforced more strictly for applicants seeking permanent residency or Green Cards.
It tells visa officers to flag those applicants with chronic illnesses – cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, neurological conditions, and metabolic disorders among them – that could require “hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care.”
The cable underlines that, apart from being a condition in itself, obesity serves as one of the routes to related ailments such as asthma, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure that increase the risk of long-term health costs.
“All of these can require expensive, long-term care,” the directive reportedly says. https://www.msn.com/en-in/politics/government/trump-admin-to-soon-deny-us-visas-over-health-conditions-like-diabetes-and-obesity/ar-AA1PZXKk?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Assessing Applicants’ Financial Ability
US visa officers have also been told to assess if applicants can pay for treatment without relying on public health assistance.
Visa officers must determine whether applicants have sufficient resources to cover their medical care throughout their lifetime without relying on government assistance or institutionalization”
Critics argue that these assessments are subjective and unscientific because consular officers lack the medical training to accurately predict future health expenses.
“They shouldn’t be making projections based on their own personal knowledge or bias,” said Charles Wheeler, an attorney with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, which provides legal aid to immigrants.
Health of Dependents Also Under Scrutiny
In a significant policy expansion, the cable instructs State Department officers to consider the medical conditions of applicants’ family members-especially children and elderly parents.
The guidance also asks whether any of the dependants have any disabilities or chronic conditions that may affect the applicant’s ability to continue working or being economically independent.
Medical examinations by embassy-approved physicians already screen applicants for infectious diseases, substance use, and vaccination compliance. But the new rules go beyond infectious diseases, adding chronic conditions as a potential factor in determining visa eligibility.
Immigration Lawyers Raise Alarm
Immigration experts said the directive could dramatically widen the list of medical disqualifications, giving visa officers broad leeway to deny entry on the basis of assumptions about future health costs.
“This guidance encourages speculation,” said Sophia Genovese, an immigration attorney in Georgetown. “It allows officers to make judgments about people’s health and employability that they are not qualified to make.”
The policy is part of President Donald Trump’s second-term immigration agenda that has so far imposed higher fees for H-1B visas, stricter citizenship reviews of Green Card holders, and new measures to cut legal immigration. A Shift to Health-Based Immigration Control By expanding the definition of who might become a “public charge,” the administration is in effect tying immigration eligibility to health and income, restricting access for middle- and lower-income applicants.
Analysts caution that the change could disproportionately affect Indian, Filipino, and Latin American applicants, among those from developing nations generally, where chronic health conditions are more common. The policy forms part of a larger effort by Washington to cut immigration based on economic and medical prerequisites, echoing other moves to restrict refugee admissions and increase deportations.
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