A diagnosed mental health disorder can be a reason for green card or USA entry denial, if it has led to harmful behaviour. This site says:
According to the CDC guidance, the mental disorders that are most frequently associated with harmful behavior are:
major depression
bipolar disorder
schizophrenia, and
mental retardation.
This doesn’t mean that other disorders won’t be used as grounds of inadmissibility, however. Even anxiety disorders, which many people suffer from while leading fully functioning lives, can lead to inadmissibility, if the disorder has led to harmful behavior to the applicant or others.
It also increases your risk of denial out of public charge concerns:
The public charge bar can have significant ramifications for immigrants with mental disabilities or disorders. Immigration officials are concerned that these immigrants might find themselves stranded in the U.S., unable to find work because of their disability and unable to receive or afford appropriate care and treatment.
I’d thouroughly research these and other possible restrictions before seeking a formal diagnosis. And keep in mind that rules might change in the future. Given the risks, I personally would need a better reason than getting more time on exams to take such a step. Maybe if I needed medication and this was the only way to get it.
The link has information that aspergers need to be cleared by a doctor to serve which is kind of different to autism being an auto-no. This means that autism by itself is not an issue but if you are disabled that is caused by autism you might be unfit to serve.
This might be sensitive to whether autism refers to the full spectrum or just the “deeper” parts of it.
Thank you, I do want to preserve my options to emigrate from the UK, so that is definitely a consideration to take into account. After reading your and other commenters’ replies, I think I’m leaning toward not getting a formal diagnosis because of the high risk of being discriminated against in some way.
A diagnosed mental health disorder can be a reason for green card or USA entry denial, if it has led to harmful behaviour. This site says:
It also increases your risk of denial out of public charge concerns:
There are also some job restrictions, e.g. people diagnosed with autism cannot join the Navy in the UK.
I’d thouroughly research these and other possible restrictions before seeking a formal diagnosis. And keep in mind that rules might change in the future. Given the risks, I personally would need a better reason than getting more time on exams to take such a step. Maybe if I needed medication and this was the only way to get it.
The link has information that aspergers need to be cleared by a doctor to serve which is kind of different to autism being an auto-no. This means that autism by itself is not an issue but if you are disabled that is caused by autism you might be unfit to serve.
This might be sensitive to whether autism refers to the full spectrum or just the “deeper” parts of it.
Thank you, I do want to preserve my options to emigrate from the UK, so that is definitely a consideration to take into account. After reading your and other commenters’ replies, I think I’m leaning toward not getting a formal diagnosis because of the high risk of being discriminated against in some way.