Reply #80: FWIW, the story as reported a day or so earlier, in New Zealand

[muriel_volestrangler]

Skilled worker told to slim before coming to NZ

Richie Trezise, an English submarine cable specialist headhunted for a job with Telecom, was forced to slim down before the New Zealand Immigration Service would let him in.

He was denied an employer-backed talent visa when he failed the Body Mass Index test (BMI), a fat measurement using a person's height and weight.

Mr Trezise was forced to go on a crash diet to lose weight and 5cm from his waist and passed the test to start work in New Zealand in September.
...
Meanwhile, Mr Trezise's wife Rowan is still in Britain attempting to meet BMI requirements before joining her husband in New Zealand.

He said that if she did not make it here by Christmas, he would return to Britain for good.

NZPA

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4275561a10.html

So, the basics of the story do seem to have been reported accurately by the Daily Mail.