Foreigners Coming to the U.S. Can Now Get Their Visa Denied for Being Fat
How are they supposed to integrate if they can’t get chunky like the rest of us?
Published 1 month ago in Wtf
Moving to the United States has never been easy, but under the current administration, immigration rules are getting even more intense. Now, a new directive says that immigrants could be denied a visa for, and I’m serious here, being fat. Brother, have you met us?
As reported by NPR, all immigrants to the United States must pass a health inspection before their visa is approved. However, new directives have increased the standards that immigrants must reach before coming into the country.
Specifically, visa officers are now instructed to consider whether the person could take advantage of the U.S. healthcare system. To that end, they’re told to consider whether one has cancer, diabetes, mental health conditions and obesity. The latter feels a bit hypocritical as, according to the U.S. government’s own statistics, over 40% of American adults are obese.
But it’s not just the health of the applicant that’s at play here. Visa officers are also directed to consider what healthcare costs an immigrant could accrue over the course of their life in the country. They are told they can do this by assessing the health of the applicant’s family members — a particularly insane prospect given that the visa officers making this assessment aren’t trained in any medical field.
Considering moving to the United States? Better start hitting the gym!