European citizen having baby in USA

N

Nicky001

Registered Users (C)
I am a European citizen and am pregnant. We would like that our baby has the citizenship of the US and therefore we are thinking about coming to the US at the time of birth.
It is not our intention to become US citizens ourselves (we are happy with our own nationality) but we believe that our baby can have some extra opportunities in later life if he/she has a dual citizenship.

We heard that there are organizations/hospitals who arrange this kind of births (for foreigners) and take care of the paper work and all the other stuff that is needed.
Can somebody direct me to the right website(s) of hospitals where I can ask information?

Thank you so much!
 
Nicky,

There is nothing illegal about what you propose. You may travel to US under the visa waver program (if your country is on the list) - and stay for up to 6 months.

Births vary in cost depending on complications etc. If a cesarian birth is required (US OBGYN's prever these - since they can be scheduled), the cost may be higher. If the baby has any reason to be retained in the high-risk nursery (or neo-natal intensive care) for a few days - this will also run up the cost (at least $1000/day).

If you have insurance that would cover you (and your child) in the US, that would pay most of it.

If you show up at the hospital in advanced labor, they cannot turn you away (even if you cannot pay) but must (by law) admit you. They will discharge you as soon as your condition is stable in any case - possibly even the same day if you are not paying.

It is much better if you can make payment arrangements up front.

JoeF is right about the airline restrictions. You need to be sure to come before you pregnancy is too advanced. Check with the airlines to be sure. Most, I think will allow travel up to the 6th month at least. They may ask, but I don't think you have to tell them you are pregnant - since it is a personal matter.

There is no paperwork really - other than whatever is needed to arrange payment to the hospital, doctors, and medical laboratories. (They will all bill you separately). The hospital will automatically apply for a birth certificate. You need to make sure it is filled out correctly. A few days after birth you can have the official birth certificates in hand - and can apply for a US passport for the child - on which he/she can return to your country of origin.

Good luck to you and your family!

-Ocelot (I'm not a lawyer)
 
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I didn't know Europe had its own citizenship. You are the first person I meet who holds that citizenship. How did you get it?
 
Ocelot said:
Births vary in cost depending on complications etc. If a cesarian birth is required (US OBGYN's prever these - since they can be scheduled), the cost may be higher. If the baby has any reason to be retained in the high-risk nursery (or neo-natal intensive care) for a few days - this will also run up the cost (at least $1000/day).

....

The hospital will automatically apply for a birth certificate. You need to make sure it is filled out correctly. A few days after birth you can have the official birth certificates in hand - and can apply for a US passport for the child - on which he/she can return to your country of origin.
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Ocelot, just a few 'enhancements' to your post...

I am a dual Canadian/EEC citizen, and my wife is an EEC citizen. We are both LPRs, but at the time of our twins births last year we had 485 pendings.

Point 1 - cost... luckily we had health insurance, because for two weeks my wife was hospitalized with certain pregnancy related conditions. Consequently, our daughters were born 6 weeks premature and required 2 weeks of ICU. The 'rack rate' of all the bills (not the insurance company rate) came to over $300,000 for mother and daughters. (ICU for each daughter was $3,000 a day alone). So -- one needs deep pockets to account for any eventuality.

Point 2 - birth certificates... in San Francisco, it can take up to six weeks for the birth records to get to the registrar, which is when you can pick up the official birth certificates. Passports can then be expedited.

When we traveled back to the UK for a visit, we had our EEC passports, but our daughers traveled on US passports with no evidence of EEC citizenship. Their passports were stamped with something to the effect of them not being allowed to be a public charge... so you would need to obtain their home country citizenship as soon as you arrive back home.

Since then, we have obtained both Canadian and EEC citizenship for our daughters, so they now have triple citizenship, which will hopefully serve them well later in life.
 
Publicus said:
I didn't know Europe had its own citizenship. You are the first person I meet who holds that citizenship. How did you get it?
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All Citizens of EEC countries receive a passport of their home country, but it is designated "EEC" meaning the right of abode and work among Community countries. I have a British Passport, but it also says EEC on the front. I think that it was the original poster was referring to.
 
wik said:
All Citizens of EEC countries receive a passport of their home country, but it is designated "EEC" meaning the right of abode and work among Community countries. I have a British Passport, but it also says EEC on the front. I think that it was the original poster was referring to.
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So you are a British Citizen, and not a European Citizen. You may call yourself European, but not a European Citizen. Citizenship is a political status. :)
 
European Union Citizenship

Publicus said:
So you are a British Citizen, and not a European Citizen. You may call yourself European, but not a European Citizen. Citizenship is a political status. :)
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That's incorrect Publicus.

Citizens of European Union member countries are also citizens of the European Union. That was established in the Treaty of Amsterdam a few years ago.

You may find it unusual to have two citizenships but only one passport, but that is also the case of US Citizens. The US Constitution states that all Citizens of the USA are also Citizens of their respective State of residence. That must have been an important point for the Founding Fathers b/c the US Constitution is rather short.

BTW, the European Constitution that is now being ratified also has this dual level of citizenship: Country and European Union. Even if not ratified, the Treaty of Amsterdam remains, so this will not change whether the European Union Constitution passes or not. BTW, the US Constitution took many years to ratify, so it may take for the EU one.
 
Nothing matters as long as she has the visa to go in the country and the money to have her baby. As a matter of fact I have heard a lot of people are doing it from different countries for the wellness of their babies.
 
EU Citizenship

JoeF said:
That's news to me. Do you have any link? I am a citizen of a country of the EU, and I don't think the EU at this point has a legal status as independent country. But I didn't follow that much, so I may be wrong.
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Hi JoeF,

I never wrote that that the EU has the legal status of an independent country (at least it doesn't have it yet), but this is not obstacle to the legal existence of EU citizenship. Much in the same way that California doesn't have the legal status of an independent country, but this is not obstacle for the US Constitution to clearly state that US citizens residing in a State (e.g., California) are also Citizens of the State when the reside (e.g., Citizens of California).

As for an official link about the treaty of Amsterdam establishing EU citizenship, it took me one minute to find it:

http://www.europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/a12000.htm

Let me know if you need a link to the relevant article of the US constitution.

Cheers.
 
Publicus said:
I didn't know Europe had its own citizenship. You are the first person I meet who holds that citizenship. How did you get it?
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Maybe I did not put it right, but I meant I am European but not holding a specific European passport, because that does not exist (yet). I prefer not to tell my nationality, I can say that I am from Western Europe.
 
JoeF said:
I don't think health care in the European Union is any worse than in the US...
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I would not do it for some kind of better health care, because in my own country my baby and myself would receive a very good care too. Actually, it would be easier if I would just stay here and have the baby in my own country. We just want to give him or her (not clear yet :) ) the best possible chances in life.

I have found a Korean organization (www.birthinusa.com) which helps Korean women to come to the US and have their baby there. They take care of all the paper work, the practical and medical care and all other necessary help. I am trying to find out if other organizations could assist me too in finding my way to do this.

There are a few disadvantages too off course : first of all, it will cost a lot of money and that is why I am trying to figure out what the total cost will be.
Second disadvantage is that I have to be there from 28 or 32 weeks, otherwise the airlines will not take me anymore. This is not practical because I have a job and other responsibilities in my country.

Any other tips, websites, links, personal experiences are more than welcome !
 
This looks illegal to me, why is it only written in a language that u can't read if you are not chinese, if it is not illegal then it might me something that is done only for certain countries. For example I know that a lot of vietnam ppl are excluded in some taxes due to the Vietnam war or so I heard.

On a personal note, I have a freind who came here to have her first child and went back home after the birth, she got pregnant for the second time and was coming to have her second child here but she was not allowed entry because her first child had a US passport and she the mother was not a resident of the US.

Britain for example won't give citizenship to a child that was born there if at least one of the parents is not a citizen. I don't know why u are going through all this when your child will have a better life in your country. He/She would not need a visa to come to the US, and it is much easier to come to the US from any european country than it is for most of the world. Most of the people that come to have babies here end up not paying for the bill and we the tax payers suffer the consequences.

Anyway this is just my opinion, I suggest you look into it because I don't think it is legal, and if it is I am sure it will probably cost you an arm and a leg, but if you have the resources, hey go for it.

Good luck
 
I think that having babies in he U.S. should not be a business or a goal in itself. This is a blunt disrespect to the laws and regulations of this country. People may choose to immigrate to the U.S. and there are many ways to do so, but to come here and have a baby just to earn some benefit is disrespectful and somehow unjust toward the child to be born and the United States itself.

I heard somewhere that an amendement (the 28th) is on its way to stop this masquerade, where a person born in the U.S. will become a U.S. citizen if one or both of the parents are either U.S. citizens or permanent residents. I believe this make much sense.
 
Give the lady a break

The law is that any person born in the US is a US citizen.

Let's be respectful here. The lady is not talking about breaking any law. She asked for information on how to do this perfectly legal thing. She didn't ask whether or not you would like her to do it.

Since this is an immigration forum, I would expect a little more tolerance.

-Ocelot
 
Ocelot said:
The law is that any person born in the US is a US citizen.

Let's be respectful here. The lady is not talking about breaking any law. She asked for information on how to do this perfectly legal thing. She didn't ask whether or not you would like her to do it.

Since this is an immigration forum, I would expect a little more tolerance.

-Ocelot
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Well, when she applied for a Visa, she had to give her reasons for visiting the U.S. Also she was asked again at the customs by an officer about her reasons to visit the U.S. I am well sure that if on both occasions had she mentioned having a baby in the U.S. as a reason of her stay, this latter may have been denied.
 
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JoeF said:
Well, while it may not be illegal per se, it could at least be considered unethical. This kind of stuff also gives the anti-immigrants in the US more ammunition, because it is essentially exploiting a loophole. The efforts to revoke the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, which Publicus referred to, may currently be doomed to fail, but if things like what this lady tries becomes more known, it could gain new traction.
For doing things the right way, yes. For exploiting loopholes, no.
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Thank you JoeF, and as an immigrant I am pro-immigration, but also I tremendously respect the laws which are in the books of this nation.
 
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Publicus said:
Well, when she applied for a Visa, she had to give her reasons for visiting the U.S.

The point is she does not need a visa to come to the US, if she is staying for six months or less.

Also she was asked again at the customs by an officer about her reasons to visit the U.S. I am well sure that if on both occasions had she mentioned having a baby in the U.S. as a reason of her stay, this latter may have been denied.
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The fact that she is not using a visa and just coming to have a baby amounts to her lying as the purpose of her coming to the States if she states that she is just coming for a visit
 
Nicky001 said:
I am a European citizen and am pregnant. We would like that our baby has the citizenship of the US and therefore we are thinking about coming to the US at the time of birth.
It is not our intention to become US citizens ourselves (we are happy with our own nationality) but we believe that our baby can have some extra opportunities in later life if he/she has a dual citizenship.

We heard that there are organizations/hospitals who arrange this kind of births (for foreigners) and take care of the paper work and all the other stuff that is needed.
Can somebody direct me to the right website(s) of hospitals where I can ask information?

Thank you so much!
Click to expand...

Heres an article on this subject:
http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/baby_registry_of_choice.htm

Its interesting that INS doesnt think its unethical as long as you can pay for it. So once again some experts on this forum will have to eat their own words. :) Good Luck!
Also, interesting is the fact that at the end of the article, it mentions that one of the parent wanted to give up the baby's citizenship but was told he cannot do that until the baby is 18 and can make his own decision!
 
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