Background: Studies of immigrant health have focused on how integration into United States (U.S.) society influences health disparities after arrival. Less work has been done to show how stratification by immigration visa status shapes the health of potential migrants prior to arrival.

Objective: This study examines how health among Filipino migrants is shaped by their visa type, prior to emigrating to the U.S. The health of Filipino migrants is further compared to the health of non-migrants remaining in the Philippines.

Methods: Data come from the Health of Philippine Emigrants Study, a dual-cohort, longitudinal, and transnational study of Filipino migrants (n=832) and non-migrants (n=805). We used ordinal logistic regression and Poisson regression to examine how self-rated health and number of health conditions differs by migrant visa type (non-migrant, work visa, marriage visa, or family reunification visa), accounting for age, gender, English proficiency, and socioeconomic status. Additionally, we tested whether socioeconomic status explained differences in health by migrant visa using mediation analyses.

Results: Migrants with family reunification visas had better self-rated health than non-migrants, and migrants with work visas and marriage visas had better self-rated health than migrants with family reunification visas, accounting for covariates. Migrants with work and marriage visas had fewer health conditions than non-migrants. Education explained this difference for migrants with work visas, but not for migrants with marriage visas.

Discussion: U.S. visa type is a social determinant of health that stratifies potential migrants by their health and health supporting resources, even before they arrive in the U.S.