Pregnant Wife (Canadian Permanent Resident) Question...

[Shayreef]

Hello everyone,

I received a lot of assistance/support from individuals on this forum while my wife was waiting her permanent residency application to be approved. I wanted to ask a few questions regarding my wife and our current situation and was hoping again for some valuable assistance.

My wife and I found out recently that she is pregnant and we've been discussing our plans as a result. My wife is a British citizen with valid NHS in the UK, however she has never technically resided in the UK. Her mother (deceased) was a British citizen and her father is Egyptian.

My wife would preferably like to give birth in the UK because a large majority of her family live there and she doesn't want to give birth alone. I have several questions and was hoping for some assistance from someone that may have (or know someone personally) who has been in a similar situation.

1. My wife wants to give birth in the UK and was planning on travelling during her 26-28th week so that she can get set up and feel comfortable as well as meet an OBGYN. From your experience, is that possible?

2. If she decided to give birth in the UK, would she be covered by NHS or Canadian Health Care abroad? Is there a specific time frame that she must enter the UK before giving birth in order to be eligible?

3. Once she has given birth, is there a way to apply for Canadian Citizenship so that when she arrives with my baby, the child is automatically a Citizen (in order to enter the country) and will the baby automatically receive canadian health care?

4. If anyone has experience with this subject, is there anything else I need to know or research?

Thank you for your assistance and I look forward to your replies.

Regards,

Shayreef

 

[Rob_TO]

1. My wife wants to give birth in the UK and was planning on travelling during her 26-28th week so that she can get set up and feel comfortable as well as meet an OBGYN. From your experience, is that possible?

Should be fine, as typically airlines will allow travel without a doctors note up to around 35 weeks.

2. If she decided to give birth in the UK, would she be covered by NHS or Canadian Health Care abroad? Is there a specific time frame that she must enter the UK before giving birth in order to be eligible?

Canadian healthcare won't cover her in another country. Well actually they do a little bit, but it's such tiny amount like pennies on the dollar of what you pay. Don't count on it for any major cost health expenses (like a pregnancy/delivery).

I have no idea how UK healthcare works or what the eligibility or residency requirements are.

3. Once she has given birth, is there a way to apply for Canadian Citizenship so that when she arrives with my baby, the child is automatically a Citizen (in order to enter the country) and will the baby automatically receive canadian health care?

As long as YOU are a Canadian citizen able to pass on citizenship to children born abroad, then your baby will be a Canadian citizen upon birth. After the birth you'll need to apply for their Canadian citizenship and then passport from the UK if you want the baby to fly back on a Canadian passport. No idea how long this would all take.

Else you could possibly get the baby UK passport, and try to fly back to Canada based on that and sort out the citizenship details when she returns. I'm not sure how eTA works with babies who are technically Canadian citizens but haven't got their citizenship docs yet. I imagine until they're officially a Canadian citizen, they can get an eTA to fly on visa-exempt UK passport (though not entirely sure).

I think you're in Ontario, meaning the baby will not have OHIP coverage until 3 months waiting period after arriving in Ontario. Doesn't matter if you have the baby's Canadian citizenship worked out, baby still needs to wait 3 months. Also depending on how long she's outside Canada, your wife may also need to go through a new 3 months waiting period. So better have some private travel medical insurance during this time.

4. If anyone has experience with this subject, is there anything else I need to know or research?

Does your wife have Conditional PR status? If so this would require you to travel and live with her if she's gone for an extended time.

Also was she intending to fly back home alone? Doing this with a small baby, alone on the airplane, can be pretty difficult.

 

[zardoz]

My wife is a British citizen with valid NHS in the UK, however she has never technically resided in the UK. Her mother (deceased) was a British citizen and her father is Egyptian.

2. If she decided to give birth in the UK, would she be covered by NHS or Canadian Health Care abroad? Is there a specific time frame that she must enter the UK before giving birth in order to be eligible?

On exactly what basis, as a non-resident, do you believe that she is entitled to NHS coverage? It's a residence based eligibility. http://www.rotherham.nhs.uk/foi/Guidence%20for%20GPs/Simple%20Guidance%20for%20Free%20NHS%20Treatment.pdf

2.) it may be that the answer is "neither" NHS or Canadian Health Care.

 

[Shayreef]

On exactly what basis, as a non-resident, do you believe that she is entitled to NHS coverage? It's a residence based eligibility. http://www.rotherham.nhs.uk/foi/Guidence%20for%20GPs/Simple%20Guidance%20for%20Free%20NHS%20Treatment.pdf

My father-in-law owns property in the UK and my wife still receives mail from NHS to that address. I do not necessarily believe she is "entitled" to NHS coverage in the UK and thats the reason I am asking these questions. I've done considerable research and understand that she is not considered an "Ordinary Resident" of the UK. However, I would like to figure out a way in which my wife is able to give birth in the UK surrounded by her family but avoid paying upwards of £7500-10,000 out of pocket to do so considering it would be free in Canada.

With that said, I am in no way trying to take advantage of the NHS for a "tourist baby" but I know how important it is for my wife to give birth in the UK given she has zero family in Canada and very little support.

I appreciate your response Zardoz and the link you provided. I read through it and am in the process of contacting the NHS regarding this situation to get a better understanding of what to do.

If anyone else with information can provide advice that would be very much appreciated.

Regards,

Shayreef

 

[Rob_TO]

However, I would like to figure out a way in which my wife is able to give birth in the UK surrounded by her family but avoid paying upwards of £7500-10,000 out of pocket to do so considering it would be free in Canada.

From the link it seems pretty clear, she must commit to living in the UK for minimum of 6 months. Anything less than 6 months physical habitation there, and if it's anything like Canada they can back-charge her for all the amounts used for healthcare

My father-in-law owns property in the UK and my wife still receives mail from NHS to that address.

This is irrelevant, and the link above even states for them to watch people falsely using family's addresses to claim as their own residential address to make is seem like they've been living there.