Washington says it has canceled more than 6,000 visas over birth tourism, while November green card filing rules change for two applicant categories.
The United States has revoked more than 6,000 visas held by foreigners who travelled to the country to give birth or who helped arrange such trips, its State Department said on Thursday, November 12.
“The Department of State’s Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force has now revoked more than 6,000 visas from foreigners who engaged in or facilitated birth tourism. We are identifying and holding accountable everyone involved in this illicit practice,” the department said in a post on X.
The figure has risen fast. The task force, created on August 12 to review visa holders’ worldwide travel histories with the Department of Homeland Security, reported more than 600 revocations at launch, and the department passed 4,000 in an October 31 update.
President Donald Trump ordered the wider crackdown in an August executive order that banned birth tourism.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio added visa restrictions in September for people who run or profit from commercial birth tourism networks, agents who coach applicants to lie, and medical providers who help them. Certain family members may also be covered.
The department says it generally revokes visas where there are indications a holder may be ineligible, and that foreigners who misrepresent the purpose of their travel may be permanently ineligible for a US visa or entry.
It accuses facilitators of advertising births in the US, coaching clients to hide the real purpose of their trips and promising “automatic citizenship”.
A revocation does not by itself mean the holder was deported or convicted of a crime. In June, a US embassy operation in West Africa dismantled a birth tourism network involving more than 100 foreign nationals.
What the green card filing change means
Separately, November filing rules have shifted for two groups of green card applicants inside the United States: those waiting to file family-sponsored and employment-based applications to adjust status.
USCIS, the agency that handles those applications, designated the Dates for Filing chart for both groups for November, letting some applicants file before their category is fully current.
Filing does not mean approval follows at once. The agency says an applicant may file when a priority date is earlier than the chart’s date, if otherwise eligible, and says the revised procedure aligns with the system used at US embassies and consulates abroad.
The change does not alter who qualifies for a green card. Applicants in Ghana with pending US petitions should check their priority date on the monthly visa bulletin and direct case questions to the US Embassy in Accra.
