The United States Embassy in Dhaka issued a pointed warning Wednesday against using American visas for the purpose of giving birth on US soil to secure citizenship for a child, signalling heightened scrutiny of such applications.

In a statement published on its verified Facebook page Wednesday morning, the embassy said consular officers would deny visa applications if they had reason to believe an applicant's primary intent was to travel to the United States to give birth.

"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," the embassy stated, issuing the notice in both Bengali and English.

According to the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, any individual born on American soil is granted automatic citizenship. US authorities have expressed growing concern over a global trend of foreign nationals travelling to the United States specifically to exploit this constitutional provision.