US visas will soon be out of reach to applicants suffering from any chronic illness or medical conditions like diabetes or obesity, reports claimed, citing a new directive from the Trump administration. CBS News reported that KFF Health News examined the cable of the State Department sent to embassy and consular officials asking visa officers to check a series of new health parameters of the applicants.The guidance said the officers must check their age and the likelihood that they might rely on public benefits in the US because in that case they could become a potential drain on US resources because of their health issues or age. Assessing the health of the applicants is nothing new, especially for communicable diseases but the new guidelines mandate that the applicants’ health be a focus in the entire process. The guidance applies to nearly all visa applicants but is likely to be used only in cases in which people seek to permanently reside in the US, Charles Wheeler, a senior attorney for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, a nonprofit legal aid group, said to CBS.
List of medical conditions on the radar
“You must consider an applicant’s health,” the cable reads. “Certain medical conditions — including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions — can require hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care.”The cable also encourages visa officers to consider other conditions, like obesity, which it notes can cause asthma, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure, in their assessment of whether an immigrant could become a public charge and therefore should be denied entry into the US.“All of these can require expensive, long-term care,” the cable reads. Visa officers were also directed to determine if applicants have the means to pay for medical treatment without help from the US government. “Does the applicant have adequate financial resources to cover the costs of such care over his entire expected lifespan without seeking public cash assistance or long-term institutionalization at government expense?” the cable reads.“Do any of the dependents have disabilities, chronic medical conditions, or other special needs and require care such that the applicant cannot maintain employment?” the cable asks.As of now, applicants are screened for communicable diseases like tuberculosis and they have to fill a form where they have to disclose any history of drug or alcohol use, mental health conditions, violence. They’re also required to have a number of vaccinations to guard against infectious diseases like measles, polio, and hepatitis B.
