The United States has issued sweeping new visa screening directives under the revived “public charge” rule, ordering embassies worldwide to apply stricter standards in assessing applicants’ financial independence and health status.

The rule allows immigration officials to deny visas or permanent residency to individuals deemed likely to become a “public charge”, meaning those who could rely on government welfare or assistance.

According to a communication from the US State Department, quoted by Fox News, “Self-sufficiency has been a longstanding principle of U.S. immigration policy… and the public charge ground of inadmissibility has been a part of our immigration law for more than 100 years.”

The latest directive reinstates and expands measures first introduced during Donald Trump’s pr

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