26 Nov 2025 Obesity Could Be Grounds for Visa Refusal
According to reports, the Department of State (DOS) has issued a memo on “public charge,” where an applicant “must demonstrate that they are not likely to become a public charge at any time after admission to the United States.” The purpose or intent is to ensure that people coming to the U.S. will be self-sufficient and not rely on taxpayers for care or support. Being a public charge means that the alien is “likely at any time to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence, as demonstrated by either the receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance or long-term institutionalized care at government expense.”
This memo also instructs consuls to take into account certain medical conditions that could lead to serious health problems in the future. One such medical condition is obesity (the beneficiary is overweight). As the memo indicates, “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.” According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “obesity in adults increases the risks of, among other conditions, high blood pressure; Type 2 diabetes; breathing problems, such as asthma and sleep apnea; joint problems, such as osteoarthritis; gallstones and gallbladder disease; and mental illness, such as clinical depression and anxiety. All of these can require expensive, long-term care.”
If a visa applicant is obese (overweight) or has one of these other chronic conditions, the consul must evaluate whether the applicant has “adequate financial resources or insurance coverage for such costs over his entire expected period of stay in the United States without seeking public cash assistance or long-term institutionalization at government expense.”
It appears that under the Trump administration, DOS wants to make sure people are healthy, able-bodied, and capable of working hard and paying taxes, and visas are not being issued to sickly or overweight people, who will be coming to the U.S. and seeking a cure or treatment at taxpayer expense. If you are being processed for a visa, I would recommend that you not only consult with an attorney but also go on a diet.
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