The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has urged the Federal Government to urgently prioritise the revitalisation of the country’s health sector, following a fresh warning by the United States Mission in Nigeria that any visa applicant found to be travelling primarily to give birth in the US to secure citizenship for their child will be denied entry.
The US Mission, in a post on its official handle @USinNigeria on X (formerly Twitter), said consular officers would deny visas if they suspect the applicant’s main purpose of travel is childbirth
“Using your visa to travel for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States so that your child will have US citizenship is not permitted. Consular officers will deny your visa application if they have reason to believe this is your intent,” the post read, with the hashtags #VisaWiseTravelSmart and #USVisa.
An image accompanying the post further stated: “We will deny your visa if we believe your primary purpose of travel is to give birth in the United States to get US citizenship for your child. This is not permitted.”
Reacting to the development, the President of the NMA, Prof Bala Audu, said the best way to discourage Nigerians from seeking medical or birth tourism abroad is for the government to improve healthcare infrastructure across the country.
“The ban cannot curb medical tourism. The best way to curb medical tourism is to improve our workplace environment, that is, the hospitals themselves, and improve the working conditions of the healthcare workers. We are the ones working in the hospitals,” he said.
He noted that most Nigerians who travel abroad to give birth do so not because of medical challenges but to secure foreign citizenship for their children.
“I don’t want to have any of my children in America. We are Nigerians,” he added.
Prof Audu also warned against seeing foreign policy actions as solutions to local healthcare problems.
“Instead, the focus should be on systemic reforms, investments in health infrastructure, and better support for medical professionals. The real solution is to improve our hospitals and the conditions under which healthcare workers operate,” he emphasised.
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Also reacting, former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, described the move as part of a broader visa restriction policy being implemented under what he termed the “Trump 2.0” approach to immigration.
“My perspective is that as far as it goes, it is a continuation of the new visa regime that the US government under Trump 2.0 is imposing on Nigeria and other countries around Africa.
“I mean, it’s nothing new. Of course, we are aware of the fact that there are Nigerians who go there, not just for medical tourism, but specifically birth tourism to avail the unborn child and the children to be born there the privilege or the rights of becoming US citizens,” he said.
“So, if the Trump administration is aiming at making America great again and the way of achieving that objective is to keep out immigrants who try to use that route to become American citizens, it is their right. However, we are also supposed to put things in place because diplomacy is the game of reciprocity.”
Former Nigerian Consul to Cameroon, Amb Rasheed Akinkuolie, warned that this may not be the right time for visibly pregnant women to attempt travelling to the United States.
“This is not the appropriate time for heavily pregnant women to travel to the USA to deliver a child to acquire American citizenship. President Trump has declared that even children born in America to immigrants may have their citizenship revoked.
“Although this is being challenged in court, the outcome is still uncertain. It is possible that the embassy has directives from Washington not to grant visas to visibly pregnant women,” he said.
“However, if the pregnancy is not visible, and the individual is going for a conference that will last for a few days, the visa is not likely to be denied, except if there are other reasons to deny the visa.
“Secondly, pregnancy is a medical condition. And airlines will generally not board a heavily pregnant woman. In the eventuality that the woman falls into labour during the flight, the aircraft must divert to the nearest airport to deal with the emergency.
“The cost implications could be very heavy for the airline, and the captain of the flight may be sanctioned,” he said.
