New Delhi, April 29 -- The United States government has introduced sweeping new visa screening rules that would effectively bar persecuted individuals from obtaining US travel documents before they ever reach American soil. A State Department cable, reviewed independently by the Washington Post and the Guardian, instructs consular officers at every US embassy and consulate across the world to ask visa applicants whether they fear returning to their home country and to reject those who say that they do.

The directive, issued under the authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, requires consular officers to pose two specific questions to all nonimmigrant visa applicants: "Have you experienced harm or mistreatment in your country of natio...