is it wiser to have baby born in USA or Canada..pls help

[ppatra]

Hello all,

I shall be moving to Canada as a FSW PR....currently m in USA on L1visa
my wife is 7 months carrying..we do have insurance here but have to buy one once reached Canada....

is it a good decision to have the baby here in USA or shall we move to Canada ASAP ??/

what will be the residency obligations for the baby...
can anybody help me please...

Thank you

 

[steaky]

You are basic covered when you move to Alberta from outside Canada. You don't need to sponsor your baby when it is born in Canada (It is Canadian citizen automatically).

 

[newtone]

Depends which passport is more important to you

 

[Alabaman]

So you have the opportunity to make the child both a US citizen and Canadian citizen (US citizen by giving birth to it in the US and Canadian Citizen when you immigrate) and you want to throw away this opportunity?? I wouldn't do that if I were in your shoes.

 

[Sinbad]

It is nice to have a baby with dual citizenship, but you will have to restart the PR process all over again.
Land first, then come back to US if you can.

 

[PMM]

Hi

It is nice to have a baby with dual citizenship, but you will have to restart the PR process all over again.
Land first, then come back to US if you can.

Should also note that the child, if born in the US, will not be able to pass citizenship on to any kids born outside Canada.

 

[Leon]

Hi

Should also note that the child, if born in the US, will not be able to pass citizenship on to any kids born outside Canada.

Not being able to pass on citizenship only applies to first generation born abroad and this baby is not because the parents aren't Canadian citizens (yet, if ever) so if the child will get Canadian citizenship, it will be a naturalized citizen.

 

[pals_ps]

LAND FIRST AND COMEBACK TO US. HAVE A BABY HERE AND GET THE BIRTH CETIFICATE AND PASSPORT, THEN GO BACK TO CANADA AS YOUR SITUATION PERMITS. THIS IS WHAT ADVISED TO US AND WE DID THE SAME.

 

[melouttamegacity]

If either parent is an American citizen already, even if you have the baby in Canada he/she can apply for American citizenship. This would give your baby dual citizenship.

If neither parent is an American citizen, then it's really up to you.

It might be better for you to have your child in the US because you have health insurance there.

If you have the baby in Canada, I think it may take you about 3 months to get your provincial health insurance in Canada, but don't quote me on that. I know this is the case for Ontario, but I'm not sure about other provinces. Your baby would be covered under the provincial health insurance, but your wife will not. If you decide to buy insurance (which is a must if you decide to have the baby in Canada), make sure it will cover these kinds of costs. You must be ABSOLUTELY sure. Don't just assume.

 

[sokolov]

Whichever country, make sure giving birth is covered by the insurance! That was good advice!

Isn't the waiting period of 3 months only for people moving within Canada? When I moved to NS from abroad I was covered immediately - if I had moved in from, say, Ontario, I would have had to wait several months. Ontario might be different and require some waiting in any case, I dunno.

Then again, there might be an extra waiting period for giving birth. Like 9 months or so. Verify and make sure!

As for the place of birth: Dual Citizenship is always nice to have. Even though Canadians born abroad are currently second class citizens (as they can not pass the Canadian citizenship on to their offspring), I would go for the Dual Citizenship. If your baby needs his children to be Canadian, (s)he would either need a Canadian born spouse or deliver your grand children in Canada.

But: Make sure that either you or your spouse were actually born in Canada (some people have had bad surprises when they figured that they had been born in a hospital south of the border because it happened to be closer). Otherwise the baby will not be Canadian if born in the US! And a Canadian Citizenship is arguably better than a US one.

 

[PG]

Whichever country, make sure giving birth is covered by the insurance! That was good advice!

Isn't the waiting period of 3 months only for people moving within Canada? When I moved to NS from abroad I was covered immediately - if I had moved in from, say, Ontario, I would have had to wait several months. Ontario might be different and require some waiting in any case, I dunno.

Then again, there might be an extra waiting period for giving birth. Like 9 months or so. Verify and make sure!

As for the place of birth: Dual Citizenship is always nice to have. Even though Canadians born abroad are currently second class citizens (as they can not pass the Canadian citizenship on to their offspring), I would go for the Dual Citizenship. If your baby needs his children to be Canadian, (s)he would either need a Canadian born spouse or deliver your grand children in Canada.

But: Make sure that either you or your spouse were actually born in Canada (some people have had bad surprises when they figured that they had been born in a hospital south of the border because it happened to be closer). Otherwise the baby will not be Canadian if born in the US! And a Canadian Citizenship is arguably better than a US one.

sokolov,

Is it true if a non-Canadian born but Canadian citizen produces his/her baby outside Canada doesn't get Canadian citizenship eventhough the parents are Canadian citizen? Will the baby become stateless if lets say he or she is born in a EU state from Canadian parent (not born in Canada but only with Canadian citizenship) as EU doesn't allow citizenship by birht? its funny.. es kann nicht so sein oder!

 

[Leon]

Is it true if a non-Canadian born but Canadian citizen produces his/her baby outside Canada doesn't get Canadian citizenship eventhough the parents are Canadian citizen? Will the baby become stateless if lets say he or she is born in a EU state from Canadian parent (not born in Canada but only with Canadian citizenship) as EU doesn't allow citizenship by birht? its funny.. es kann nicht so sein oder!

No, it is not that simple. There is a distinction made between people who gained citizenship of Canada by immigrating to Canada and people who were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent and gained citizenship because of that. The former can pass on citizenship to children they produce after gaining citizenship themselves. The latter can not pass it on but they are allowed to sponsor their children for permanent residency if they are moving to Canada.

This law is fairly recent and is there to prevent Canadian citizenship being passed forward through generations of people not living in Canada any more. A Canadian who emigrates to another country can therefore pass on citizenship to his children born in the new country but they can not pass it on to theirs. Of course there are cases where people have happened to travel a lot and happened to have a child while living in another country. The child might grow up in Canada and might also like to travel a lot and might also be outside Canada at the time they have a baby in which case they might have a slight problem as they would not be able to pass on citizenship to that child but would have to sponsor it for PR if they want to return with it to Canada.

The child ending up stateless is unlikely though. Children usually have two parents so if the other parent is a born Canadian or a naturalized Canadian, they would be able to pass the Canadian citizenship to the baby even if the first parent can't. If the other parent is not Canadian, they might be able to pass their citizenship on to the baby whatever that is. I am also sure that many EU countries have a loophole in the law allowing citizenship at birth in cases where the baby would otherwise be stateless.

In a case like stated above where the parents are immigrating to Canada and have the option of the baby being born in the US or Canada, the part about this baby not being able to pass on Canadian citizenship to its babies at a later date is untrue because this baby would not get Canadian citizenship because the parents are citizens because they aren't yet. The baby would immigrate with the parents, get PR at first and then become a naturalized citizen either when the parents apply for Canadian citizenship or by applying for itself later on.

 

[PG]

I am also sure that many EU countries have a loophole in the law allowing citizenship at birth in cases where the baby would otherwise be stateless.

No, its not that simple in EU now. The last country to provide citizenship by birth was Ireland, which after the huge pressure from EU amended it constitution (by general poll), I guess it was in 2007. If either of the parents is living for more than 5 years and his visa can go in settlement way then the newborn child can get the citizenship (conditional in the countries which do not allow dual citizenship).

In many cases in Germany, Belgium etc. I have seen kids or even teenagers having their visa paper (like a card) issued by foreign office because of the lack of passport or stateless situation. You can not leave the country, and can not enter back if you leave by chance. In Germany there are 100,000 babies born per year to foreign parents, and remain foreigner unless either of a parent is a German national or the foreigner parents are living in Germany for longer than 8 years on the time of birth. In UK the time is shorter as you can get citizenship earlier.

The child ending up stateless is unlikely though. Children usually have two parents so if the other parent is a born Canadian or a naturalized Canadian, they would be able to pass the Canadian citizenship to the baby even if the first parent can't. If the other parent is not Canadian, they might be able to pass their citizenship on to the baby whatever that is. I am also sure that many EU countries have a loophole in the law allowing citizenship at birth in cases where the baby would otherwise be stateless.

Ok, then in either case the parent can transfer the citizenship to the child, but the child will have to think to have baby in Canada or any country which allows citizenship! Complicated for poor second+third generation!

 

[Leon]

No, its not that simple in EU now. The last country to provide citizenship by birth was Ireland,

I didn't say citizenship by birth in general, just an exception for babies who would otherwise be stateless. I don't really know how many countries have it but I know that some do and personally, I think all of them should. Here is an article on two stateless babies born in Europe: http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/11/26/high-flying-professionals-producing-a-generation-of-stateless-children/

Ok, then in either case the parent can transfer the citizenship to the child, but the child will have to think to have baby in Canada or any country which allows citizenship! Complicated for poor second+third generation!

If they are in the situation that they were born abroad to Canadian parents and that is how they gained their citizenship, they need to be careful. A Canadian citizen can actually sponsor their baby for permanent residency if they show plans of moving to Canada when the baby gets it. There is no residency requirement for babies to apply for citizenship so the Canadian citizen parent can apply for them as soon as they get the PR.

The US has slightly different rules where in order to pass on US citizenship, you must have lived in the US for a certain number of years. Maybe Canada should do the same. Before the current law, there was a law where the 2nd generation born abroad had to live in Canada for a year and apply to keep their citizenship before turning 28 but it might have been too complicated to enforce.

 

[sokolov]

sokolov,

Is it true if a non-Canadian born but Canadian citizen produces his/her baby outside Canada doesn't get Canadian citizenship eventhough the parents are Canadian citizen? Will the baby become stateless if lets say he or she is born in a EU state from Canadian parent (not born in Canada but only with Canadian citizenship) as EU doesn't allow citizenship by birht? its funny.. es kann nicht so sein oder!

Basically that is true (with some exceptions, I think for diplomats and soldiers or so). There are a number of cases where children of Canadian parents have been born stateless (like a baby born in Brussels to a Canadian father and a Syrian (IIRC) mother - no Syrian citizenship because that country had not approved the marriage beforehand and no Belgian citizenship either). Or where they ended up with some weird citizenship neither of their parents had (I remember a child born in Hongkong to a Canadian father and a Chinese mother who ended up with an Irish citizenship because one of the grandparents was Irish - the Chinese wouldn't give Chinese citizenship because the father was a foreigner, and the Canadians wouldn't give citizenship because the father had been born outside Canada). The CBC Radio highlighted some of these cases last year.

This new law creates a lot of problems.

Sponsoring your own child to immigrate to your home country is silly. It is difficult and there is no guarantee that it will be accepted. Plus, until then the Canadian government doesn't provide any services as this person is not Canadian. Sucks.