customsquestion

Would being denied for attempting to enter USA to give birth to U.S Citizen baby and position yourself for immigration advantage be worse than being denied entry for another reason such as they think you would stay illegally or frequency of visits?

Gingerert

Aside from anything... who the hell would want to sit in a metal tube for eight hours while that heavily pregnant? Jeysus... talk about being uncomfortable! Those teeny tiny seats are barely big enough for a skinny minny non-pregnant person, let alone someone with a wriggling infant inside them.

Man, I wouldn't take that risk.

Nutmegger

And please don't tell me they intend to schlepp round Disney!!!

Noorah101

No.

Rene

MoshiMoshi

Not everyone buys travel insurance at time of booking; plenty of people leave it till later on because they want to shop around. Not all travel insurance covers cancellation; not all cancellation insurance covers pregnancy.

Just because she's reluctant to cancel the holiday doesn't imply there's some whole nefarious immigration agenda! It's a big adjustment to find out you're pregnant and can't necessarily do all the things you normally do. She needs a reality check.

Someone who has never been pregnant before -- or flown long haul! I can't believe her mother is encouraging her to go.

I don't know for sure, but AFAIK there's no actual crime involved in entering the US with the intent to give birth.

Just as I was leaving CA there was a big scandal about 'maternity hotels', where wealthy pregnant Asian women come to the US with the intent to give birth there and gain citizenship for their babies. They apparently pay (big $$$) for all their own medical treatment, plus care at the aforementioned 'hotel', and don't overstay or contravene their tourist visas. Mother and baby leave afterwards, but the child has the future option of coming back to the US. News reports about this took outraged tones but didn't actually say it was illegal.

As others have said, even if the mother-to-be makes it onto the plane, she's most likely to get bounced at POE as a potential inadvertent overstay due to not being able to fly home again. Or the POE official will be reluctant to accept that anyone would be so misguided as to come on a long-haul holiday at 36 weeks, and assume she's planning to illegally overstay.

But turning up pregnant isn't the equivalent of turning up with a wedding dress in your luggage and the secret intent to get married and adjust status.

There's no quick-fix immigration advantage to giving birth in the US, except for the baby; no equivalent of the 'VWP-express' AOS route that newly-weds can take. I really doubt that doing something that will possibly give you an opportunity to apply to immigrate two decades after the event realistically counts as 'positioning yourself for immigration advantage'.

Yes, it's (arguably) an 'immigration advantage' for the baby -- but under the terms of the law the baby is an American citizen fair and square at birth and has all the rights that entails. You can't just strip an American citizen of their citizenship, even if they get it through what you consider a loophole.

Anyway, I'm sure this is all totally besides the point, since the OP's friend probably does just want to go to Disneyworld.

Jerseygirl

I can't imagine anyone in their right mind even considering this. Does she not have any consideration for the baby?

Sally Redux

Crazy.

kins

A friend gave birth in the US having entered the country for a holiday at around 36 weeks. Her travel insurance did cover it. The baby was fine - couple of days in hospital then they went home. She has no intention of moving to the US.

scrubbedexpat099

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/trav...nce/pregnancy/

As with any insurance product, the level of cover you receive and the exclusions written in the small print will vary greatly from insurer to insurer, so it is advisable to read through the terms and conditions of any prospective pregnancy travel insurance policy.

Will travel insurance allow me to travel up to full term?

The answer to this question is usually no, the majority of insurance companies will provide cover up until roughly the 28th week of your pregnancy (around 7 months). Travelling after 30 weeks carries a higher risk of a pre-term birth and is not usually recommended.

For more read this....http://www.moneysupermarket.com/trav...nce/pregnancy/

MarylandNed

Yes, and that's actually a mistake that I've made myself. It's better to purchase travel insurance asap after making that first booking so that you're covered for any mishaps that might cause you to cancel subsequently.

Some travel insurance policies cover cancellation of the trip for any reason - but only if you purchase travel insurance within a certain numbers of days of the first payment for the trip. After that, you'll only get cancellation insurance for events specifically listed on the policy.

sir_eccles

I'd say canceling the vacation is the best route to go. Perhaps talk to the airline and they can give you a voucher to use on a future booking or depending on your credit card you may be able to get a refund on the holiday that way too.

jackattack

I just came back to the US from a vacation abroad including our three kids. We entered the US in Miami and the immigration lines were HUGE.

My family (four USC and me on a green card) got to go in the USC line, but we were the last people through our entry booth before they started waving the non-USC through.

Our questioning was simple and relatively quick (took my photo and fingerprints etc). Then I happened to listen/watch as the couple behind me got questioned while I was gathering bags/repositioning toddler twins, refiling passports.

I was shocked that the immigration official was rude and aggressive to this couple (very different line of questioning from ours). She was shouting at the woman about moving her hands from in front of her stomach to try and conceal a possible pregnancy. She made the woman step away from the booth and turn sideways so she could see her belly and she accused the woman of trying to come to the US to have a baby. As far as I could see the woman wasn't even pregnant so I've no idea what they would do to someone who clearly had a large pregnant belly. Not a good scenario.

Duncan Roberts

A denial is a denial

scrubbedexpat099

I now make a point of never assuming or commenting, so easy to be wrong and then there is no way out.

As an aside on another Board there was a thread about somebody's relation who came to the US for all her births, children got US Citizenship and she had good medical assistance for free.

I seems to remember at least 3 trips.

Gillymonkey

I am flying USA to UK on Sat at 25 weeks and will fly back at 27 weeks. No way would I consider leaving it any longer since I am already starting to get uncomfortable. I would also have thought that the risk of DVT (already high with pregnancy) would increase the further along you were.

At 36 weeks ono I intend doing nothing more than going to work and laying on the couch at home - flying anywhere would be the last thing on my mind!