Birth abroad

[on-hold]

I know this question must have been asked a thousand times -- I looked, but didn't find an answer to what I want to know. My wife and I are both PRs, resident in Edmonton, and I have a decent job. She's pregnant, and would like to go back to her home country, Thailand to have the baby -- it's easier with family, a better place for kids, etc. I know that this will make things more difficult, if we do it, but is it possible for the baby to get a visa to live with us in Canada while we sponsor it to live permanently?

 

[steaky]

If it easier with family and better place for kids, why do you want the baby to live with the parents in Canada? If so, wouldn't it better to born and raise the child in Thailand than Canada? You know one of the parents has to be in Canada in order to sponsor the child to come to Canada as PR?

 

[sheik]

hi on hold,
thats wont be easy with the recent change in cic laws. you will have to sponsor the baby and wait , since you are both pr, you will have to be sure not to loose it, i would prefer for you to have your baby in canada then move to thailand, then your baby will be a canadian citizen and you both can live outside caada with him/her and you wont loose your pr status. think well

 

[steaky]

you both can live outside caada with him/her and you wont loose your pr status. think well

That's incorrect. Accompanying a Canadian child does not maintain residency obligations.

 

[zenn]

I know this question must have been asked a thousand times -- I looked, but didn't find an answer to what I want to know. My wife and I are both PRs, resident in Edmonton, and I have a decent job. She's pregnant, and would like to go back to her home country, Thailand to have the baby -- it's easier with family, a better place for kids, etc. I know that this will make things more difficult, if we do it, but is it possible for the baby to get a visa to live with us in Canada while we sponsor it to live permanently?

I would also suggest that you have the baby in Canada.. That way the child is born a Canadian citizen removing any complications in the childs case if you and your wife decide to go to Thailand after the delivery..

You can then stay on in Thailand until you have to return to Canada to maintain your PR status in Canada...

 

[sheik]

may be i could be wrong, please check the cic website permanent residency obligation

 

[on-hold]

Thanks everyone, but none of these actually answer my main question -- can the baby come with us back to Canada while we apply for its new status?

And steaky, though I appreciate your answering, it's not usually very useful to assume you know more about people's lives than they do. My wife and I are perfectly able to judge where the better place for her to give birth is and it is Thailand, because it is a warm country where she'll be living surrounded by relatives, in a rural village that is great for young kids. Where did you get the idea that Canada is the best country in the world for giving birth? No one likes a busybody.

 

[cdnmom]

Thanks everyone, but none of these actually answer my main question -- can the baby come with us back to Canada while we apply for its new status?

Hi On-Hold

As you and your wife are PR in Canada, if the baby is born in Thailand... you will have to apply to sponsor your child to Canada, and one of you would have to remain in Canada during the sponsorship process.
You can apply for a TRV for the child while you wait for the application to be processed... but it can be very difficult to obtain as the baby would have a strong reason not to leave when the TRV expires as both the parents would be in Canada.
If you intend to go this route you will have to ensure the visa office in Thailand is aware that you are applying with Dual Intent... and advise them in the application that the baby won't overstay the visa and jeopardize the PR application.

Personally I think you are better off to have the baby in Canada, get the baby's passport and then your wife and baby could go to Thailand and travel freely back and forth once the baby has Canadian Passport.

Totally a personal decision you and your wife have to make.

 

[Reflectoman]

on-hold,

a quick search for 'canadian born abroad' lands this website from canadian government, http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/united_kingdom-royaume_uni/consular_services_consulaires/born-abroad-nees-etranger.aspx?lang=eng&view=d also check out this site, http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules_2009.asp

in short, your child born in thailand will not be a PR nor a citizen. you will need to sponsor him through the family class before he can travel to canada. In the meantime, to keep your PR you and your wife must stay in canada 2 years out of 5 since receiving your PR, and then you can renew for another 5 years or apply for citizenship.

 

[steaky]

And steaky, though I appreciate your answering, it's not usually very useful to assume you know more about people's lives than they do. My wife and I are perfectly able to judge where the better place for her to give birth is and it is Thailand, because it is a warm country where she'll be living surrounded by relatives, in a rural village that is great for young kids. Where did you get the idea that Canada is the best country in the world for giving birth? No one likes a busybody.

Like I said, if you think Thailand is the better place to give birth, because it is a warm country where the baby will be living surrounded by relatives, in a rural village that is great for your kids --- then why bother to bring the child to Canada?

I'm not saying Canada is the best country in the world for giving birth. But certainly if the baby is Canadian born, she will be a Canadian citizen which she need not to be sponsored in order to come to Canada. Not to say that she can apply for a Canadian passport, which means she can travel to a lot of countries without visa. Although Canada is not a warm country, it does not mean that it is not great for kids.

 

[on-hold]

Thanks, both of you -- the link, and the comment about dual intent are very helpful.

 

[sheik]

hi on hold, you can bring you baby back to canada on a visitor and you can have him/her sponsor inland, i dont think cic will make you have a hard time to get a visa , since you are both pr and still maintaining relation with canada and have considerable reason for returning

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Another thing to keep in mind - if I'm not mistaken, only Canadians who are Canadian by birth can pass sponsorship to their children. If you want there to be a [easier] chance of your future grandchildren having Canadian citizenship, then it might be worth considering giving birth to the child in Canada so that he/she is immediately a Canadian citizenship who can pass citizenship through birth rights without needing to go through the whole sponsorship/PR process. You can always give birth in Canada and then fly to Thailand a few weeks after the birth so your wife can have her family around during that time.

Just out of curiosity, are you looking to give up your PR then? If your wife doesn't maintain her 2-years-in-5 then she'll lose her PR... you mentioned that in the village there's a lot of room for kids to run around, but your child would have to be a bit older? So presumably your wife is planning on staying there for awhile... and if you want to sponsor your child you'd have to stay in Canada (as has been said previously), so are you going to be separated from your child for that period of time?

(To be clear, not judging, just genuinely curious and trying to give a bit of advice. )

 

[scylla]

may be i could be wrong, please check the cic website permanent residency obligation

You are wrong. Accompanying a citizen child outside of Canada does not allow the parents to maintain PR status. To keep their PR status, the parents must live in Canada for 2 out of every 5 years just like everyone else. The rule you are thinking of applies in situations where one spouse is a Canadian citizen and the other spouse is a PR. The second spouse can retain their PR status by accompanying their Canadian citizen spouse outside of Canada. This rules does NOT apply in situations where the child is the Canadian citizen.

 

[Rob_TO]

Have to agree with others here, should really have baby in Canada as it will prevent a LOT of hardship in future. Consider
1. Baby would be automatically Canadian citizen. No need to require a special visa (which may be rejected) to bring baby back to Canada, or waste time/money sponsoring
2. If baby needs to be sponsored outland while in Thailand, 1 parent will need to be in Canada and 1 in Thailand with baby during process. Family could be apart for a year.
3. If travel to Thailand in general, parents can only stay until the baby is less than 3 yrs old, then will need to return to Canada indefinitely to maintain PR 2-out-of-5 years obligations, or risk having PR cancelled (not sure the current status of OP's PR obligations)