US to impose visa restrictions for pregnant women

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

US to impose visa restrictions for pregnant women

By MATTHEW LEE and COLLEEN LONG
January 23, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is coming out Thursday with new visa restrictions aimed at restricting “birth tourism,” in which women travel to the U.S. to give birth so their children can have a coveted U.S. passport.

Visa applicants deemed by consular officers to be coming to the U.S. primarily to give birth will now be treated like other foreigners coming to the U.S. for medical treatment, according to State Department guidance sent Wednesday and viewed by The Associated Press. The applicants will have to prove they are coming for medical treatment and they have the money to pay for it.

The State Department planned to publicize the rules Thursday, according to two officials with knowledge of the plans who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The rules will take effect Friday.

The practice of traveling to the U.S. to give birth is fundamentally legal, although there are scattered cases of authorities arresting operators of birth tourism agencies for visa fraud or tax evasion. And women are often honest about their intentions when applying for visas and even show signed contracts with doctors and hospitals.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/d4c42c5311ba8a6661855cadd12f0fed

[dewsgirl]

1. I have mainly read about Russian women doing this,

I'm sure they'll be an exemption for them.

[Lindsay]

4. As long as they stay

at a Trump property while they're here.

[tanyev]

5. Absolutely. "Russians Flock to Trump Properties to Give Birth to U.S. Citizens"

Anatoliy Kuzmin held out his daughter’s blue U.S. passport over a red Russian one and snapped a photo from a Florida beach.

“Woohoo! Got dual citizenship for my daughter!” he wrote on Instagram.

American citizenship for the newborn girl was the goal of Kuzmin and his Instagram-celebrity wife, who sought the help of birth-tourism services in Florida for the arrival of their first child. They are among the estimated hundreds of Russian parents who flock to the U.S. annually for warm weather, excellent medical care, and, more importantly, birthright American citizenship.

And many, like Kuzmin and his wife, stay at President Donald Trump’s properties in Florida.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-flock-to-trump-properties-to-give-birth-to-us-citizens

[dewsgirl]

7. I read an article on probably about 10 of them, accompanied

by a photo spread they were all probably 7-8 months pregnant, they were all in Little Moscow(Sunny Isles), South Florida.

[Iliyah]

2. Except white women . . .

preferably from Russia.

[treestar]

3. Yes. Bet that wo t be an issue.

They will be credited with medical treatment

[lark]

6. Hmm, will they stop them if they are Russian?

Bet not.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. So, they're going to admit pregnancy is a medical condition?

[forthemiddle]

9. I'm not necessarily against this

IF (big IF) it includes VISAs from all Countries.

[greymattermom]

10. So they will have to stay longer?

Because they have to come to the US before their pregnancy is obvious? Then they will overstay their visas.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. "Restrictions" means "only rich people can do it."