Birth tourism on the upswing to apply for US citizenship!

[nancymervin]

Birth tourism on the upswing to apply for US citizenship!

At least three websites and one unnamed agency in China are marketing the CNMI among Chinese women as a good destination to give birth if they want automatic U.S. citizenship for their children-all for a minimum service charge of $11,000, on top of hospital fees.The fees being charged for Saipan or the U.S. mainland have become a lot more attractive for mainland Chinese because these charges are cheaper than giving birth in Hong Kong nowadays.

The websites, in Chinese language, show pictures of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.'s facilities on Saipan where clients from China are supposed to give birth.They also carry photos of some Saipan apartments/housing rentals where clients could stay, some Saipan tourist spots, links to CNMI and federal agencies' websites, and a list of benefits of having a U.S. citizen baby, among other articles.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees U.S. citizenship to those born on its territory, provided the person is “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.For years, Saipan has been host not only to pregnant Chinese tourists but also Korean tourists who come to the CNMI to give birth to U.S. citizen children and leave after they get their children's U.S. passport.
This so-called “birth tourism,” a term for traveling to a country that practices birthright citizenship in order to give birth there so that the child will be a citizen of the destination country, has been well documented.

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