Foreigners seeking to live in the United States may be denied visas if they have common health conditions including obesity, diabetes or heart disease under new guidance issued by the Trump administration on Thursday. The directive, sent via cable to US embassies and consular officials worldwide, significantly expands the list of medical conditions that visa officers can use to determine whether an applicant might become a 'public charge', a potential drain on American resources.
The guidance instructs visa officers to consider conditions 'including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions', noting that such conditions 'can require hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of care'. The cable also singles out obesity, stating it can cause asthma, sleep apnoea and high blood pressure that 'can require expensive, long-term care'.
