The U.S. Embassy in India announced on Thursday, December 11, 2025, that it will now deny tourist visa applications to foreign nationals suspected of traveling to the United States with the primary purpose of giving birth to obtain citizenship for their child.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the embassy declared: “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 policy targets “birth tourism,” which has been particularly prevalent among Indian nationals who use children born in the United States as immigration anchors to bring additional family members into the country.
Reports from late January this year indicated that some Indian women in the United States sought dangerous pre-term cesarean sections to give birth before President Donald J. Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship took effect. Many were reportedly in their eighth or ninth months of pregnancy, though others had significantly earlier gestational ages.
Currently, a legal challenge to Trump’s birthright citizenship order is set for the U.S. Supreme Court, with oral arguments scheduled for April 2026. A ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in July this year temporarily upheld automatic birthright citizenship.
