The United States Mission in Nigeria has issued a strong warning against “birth tourism,” the practice of travelling to the U.S. primarily to give birth in order to obtain American citizenship for a child.
In a post published on Monday via its official handle, @USinNigeria, on X (formerly Twitter), the mission stated that any visa applicant suspected of intending to give birth in the U.S. would have their application denied.
“Using your visa to travel for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States so that your child will have U.S. citizenship is not permitted,” the post read. “Consular officers will deny your visa application if they have reason to believe this is your intent.”
The message was accompanied by a graphic reinforcing the policy, which read: “We will deny your visa if we believe your primary purpose of travel is to give birth in the United States to get U.S. citizenship for your child. This is not permitted.”
The warning, tagged with the hashtags #VisaWiseTravelSmart and #USVisa, appears to be part of a broader public awareness campaign aimed at curbing visa misuse and enforcing U.S. immigration regulations.
The U.S. government has previously expressed concern over attempts to exploit the country’s birthright citizenship laws, noting that such practices undermine the integrity of the immigration system.