Re: New Born Baby?!

"Taka Osama" wrote:

    > I am a Canadian Citizen and also US Permanent Resident
    > (Green Card) currently working in USA.  My wife is a
    > Canadian PR, traveling in between Canada and USA.  We
    > are about to have our first born baby.  We are kind of
    > considering where should we have the baby born?  As a
    > Canadian or as an American?

>From the standpoint of citizenship, your child will have Canadian
citizenship in any case.  Anyone born in Canada (except for a child
of foreign diplomats) is automatically a Canadian citizen.  Also,
any child with a Canadian parent is automatically a Canadian citizen,
no matter where in the world the child is born.

If your child is born in the US, he/she will also have US citizenship
(in addition to Canadian citizenship), because anyone born in the US
(except a child of foreign diplomats) is automatically a US citizen.

Depending on your wife's country of citizenship (you didn't say), it
is also possible that your child may have, or be entitled to claim,
citizenship in that country too (depending on its laws).  This would
also be the case if you, yourself, have citizenship in some other
country in addition to Canada.  Thus, it's conceivable that your
child could have three, or perhaps even four, citizenships at birth
-- where each country is acting solely on its own and without regard
to overlapping or conflicting citizenship claims from other countries.

You should, needless to say, report your child's birth to consular
officials of any relevant country other than the one in which he/she
is born.

One point should be noted regarding your child's Canadian status if
he/she is born outside Canada.  If you, yourself, got your Canadian
citizenship because =you= were born to a Canadian parent outside
Canada -- that is, if your child ends up being a second- (or later)
generation Canadian born outside Canada -- then his/her Canadian
citizenship will expire at age 28, unless he/she moves to Canada and
files a special application to "retain" Canadian citizenship prior
to that time.  Note that this rule does =NOT= apply if you (the
child's Canadian parent) were born in Canada -- and it also doesn't
apply if you got your Canadian citizenship by immigrating and being
naturalized.

Also, if your child has both US and Canadian citizenship by birth,
he/she can keep both citizenships for life (except if the previously
described "second generation born abroad" rule causes his/her Canadian
citizenship to expire at age 28).  It is widely believed by people in
both the US and Canada that "born dual" citizens are legally required
to choose a single citizenship when they grow up, but this hasn't been
the case in either country since the late 1970's.

In addition to the citizenship angle, of course, you should also care-
fully study your health insurance and make sure your wife's hospital
bills will be adequately covered wherever she ends up giving birth.

Rich Wales     [EMAIL PROTECTED]     http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
*DISCLAIMER:  I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
 or consular officer.  My comments are for discussion purposes only and
 are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.