The US Embassy in India announced on Thursday, December 11 that tourist visa applications will be rejected if it is suspected that the main reason for travel is to give birth in the United States for citizenship purposes, as this is prohibited.
In a post on social media platform X, the US Embassy in India informed, “US consular officials will deny tourist visa applications if they believe the primary purpose of the trip is to give birth to a child in the United States to obtain US citizenship. This is not allowed.”
The recent update comes after a strong warning from the U.S. mission in Nigeria in July that visa applications will be denied if applicants travel to the U.S. primarily to give birth in order to obtain citizenship.
American authorities have often expressed similar concerns about travel for childbirth. Earlier this year, the US State Department said in a post on X: “It is unacceptable for foreign parents to use a US tourist visa for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain citizenship for the child, which could also result in US taxpayers paying medical costs.
It added: “This is called birth tourism, and U.S. consular officials deny all such visa applications under U.S. immigration law. Those who abuse our immigration system through birth tourism may be ineligible for future visas or travel to the United States. This is another way the U.S. State Department serves and protects American taxpayers and communities.”
What is maternity tourism?
Birth tourism in the US is the process by which foreigners travel to a country to give birth, which ensures that their children automatically acquire US citizenship under the rights specified by the 14th Amendment.
US President Donald Trump has often hinted at concerns about the abuse of 14th Amendment rights for birth tourism. In his first term, he issued a fact sheet titled “President Donald J. Trump Takes Actions to End Birth Tourism, Protect National Security, and Curb Abuse of Public Resources,” strongly criticizing the practice of birth tourism.
“The administration is taking steps to end ‘birth tourism,’ the practice in which aliens travel to the United States to give birth in order to obtain citizenship for their children. Organizations bring in large numbers of aliens to systematically exploit this loophole and unfairly grant citizenship to their children,” according to the announcement in the archives of the official White House website.
