British Expats

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-   -   Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/going-back-uk-have-baby-920808/)

DanielOH Jan 7th 2019 10:22 pm

Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
Wife is a US citizen. I am a permanent resident with a 10-year green card. We have lived here for 4 years and some change.

Thinking about having a baby in the UK (flying over at 7 months pregnant) and then coming back to the US a month or so after birth. My question is how easy is it to fly back to the US for a newborn? Does he/she need a passport? If so, then which one?

I read that children born abroad to a US citizen parent get automatic citizenship if the parent resided in the US for 5 years prior to birth, but we will be at roughly 4 years and 11 months at the time of birth.

Basically, if we have a baby in the UK, how and when can we come back to the UK all together and what is the process?

Thanks all!

Pulaski Jan 7th 2019 10:29 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
If the mother is not resident in the UK at the time of the birth then the NHS (free service) is not legally available, so you can expect to be billed for the services provided. Check your medical insurance in the US, a delivery outside the US may, or may not be covered.

Also your wife won't be allowed on the aircraft if she is "seven months - pushing eight, pregnant". IIRC the limit usually enforced by airlines is six months.

If you are saying that your wife can't pass citizenship to your child then your child will need a British passport, and as they are not a US citizen they can't enter the US to live without having a visa (same rules for all human beings, irrespective of age :) ) - so no, it isn't easy - you can't just send off for a British passport for your newborn child and then hop on a plane back to the US a few days later.

All that said, I am puzzled as to what you are trying to achieve by taking your wife to the UK to give birth? :unsure:

DanielOH Jan 7th 2019 10:38 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
Both mother and father are citizens of the UK so we can certainly access NHS services. You are saying that a child born abroad to a US citizen cannot legally come back to the US? So the family would just need to indefinitely stay out of the US? That can't be right, surely.

Hotscot Jan 7th 2019 10:43 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
Your wife is a dual citizen?
Just clarifying...

Pulaski Jan 7th 2019 10:47 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 

Originally Posted by DanielOH (Post 12617786)
Both mother and father are citizens of the UK so we can certainly access NHS services. ….

That is absolutely NOT TRUE. To legally access free healthcare on the NHS you have to be resident in the UK, and you and your wife are clearly not resident in the UK.


You are saying that a child born abroad to a US citizen cannot legally come back to the US? So the family would just need to indefinitely stay out of the US? That can't be right, surely.
Yes, because as you said yourself the child won't be a US citizen. Children who are not US citizens are fully entitled to a visa if their parents are legally resident in the US (including if only one parent is a USC and unable to pass citizenship to their child, as is the case for you and your wife), but obviously that will take time. However, because of the peculiarities of the US immigration system your child won't get a green card upon entry to the US (as presumably you did), but as the child of a US citizen they will become a US citizen immediately upon clearing immigration as they arrive in the US ….. but first they need a visa, and without a visa they won't be getting on the plane anyway as the airlines know the rules.

DanielOH Jan 7th 2019 10:47 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 

Originally Posted by Hotscot (Post 12617788)
Your wife is a dual citizen?
Just clarifying...

Correct. My questions really focus on coming back with a newborn rather than the accessing of services in the UK.

petitefrancaise Jan 7th 2019 11:07 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
sorry, this is going to go down like a lead balloon. I wouldn't go back to the UK to have a baby. Having done 2 kids there and 1 in France and experienced US healthcare, I wouldn't do it.
Another point - your wife will have been receiving prenatal care here in the USA, presumably with a dr she knows and trusts, in a hospital she is getting to know. Why on earth would you subject her and the baby to a long international flight ( if she is allowed on the plane at all) and that physical and the emotional stress of having a baby where she doesn't have a dr yet.
And btw. Pulaski is right about proving residency.

tom169 Jan 7th 2019 11:11 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
Ridiculous idea to even consider as an option.

Englishmum Jan 7th 2019 11:19 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
Maybe the O/P or/and his wife have inadequate or even no health insurance in the USA?

scrubbedexpat099 Jan 7th 2019 11:28 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 

Originally Posted by Englishmum (Post 12617806)
Maybe the O/P or/and his wife have inadequate or even no health insurance in the USA?

Only obvious reason.

Giantaxe Jan 7th 2019 11:32 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 

Originally Posted by Englishmum (Post 12617806)
Maybe the O/P or/and his wife have inadequate or even no health insurance in the USA?

Given they legally don't have access to free NHS care, they don't have any "insurance" in the UK either. Admittedly, costs are likely to be rather cheaper there, but it seems like a high risk strategy for both mother and baby. What happens, for example, if the baby needs significant post-natal care?

DaveLovesDee Jan 7th 2019 11:43 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 

Originally Posted by DanielOH (Post 12617786)
Both mother and father are citizens of the UK so we can certainly access NHS services. You are saying that a child born abroad to a US citizen cannot legally come back to the US? So the family would just need to indefinitely stay out of the US? That can't be right, surely.

Here's somewhere to start looking.

NHS entitlements: migrant health guide

It may also be worth looking at some of the reads on Mumsnet.

Noorah101 Jan 7th 2019 11:45 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
Your USC wife doesn't seem able to pass along US citizenship to the baby. You are a PR so that serves no purpose to the baby.

If the baby is born in the UK, it will only be a UKC. It can only return as a visitor on the VWP for 90 days, which doesn't help anything.

Your wife should have the baby in the USA. That way, it will be both a USC and UKC. You can get both passports and then go visit the UK all together.

I see no benefit of having it in the UK, and in fact only problems.

What is the main goal you're trying to achieve by having it in the UK?

Rene

edit to add... If by some chance your wife can pass along her US citizenship at the time of baby's birth, then the child indeed is a USC and needs a US passport to return to the USA.

DanielOH Jan 7th 2019 11:48 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 
A couple of things to clarify:

1. Our family have residence in the UK as well. We 100% can access healthcare there. Also, it was not a question I had even asked here.
2. The reason for doing it is for lower cost healthcare and to spend time with family.
3. It is one of the many options that our family is exploring.

I really do remember this board as being much more open in the past! Thanks anyway.

Pulaski Jan 7th 2019 11:52 pm

Re: Going Back to the UK to Have a Baby?
 

Originally Posted by DanielOH (Post 12617818)
A couple of things to clarify:

1. Our family have residence in the UK as well. We 100% can access healthcare there. ....

​​​​​​Repeating an erroneous assertion doesn't make it correct. Per your own posting history on BE you have been resident in the US since 2014, so are not now "resident" in the UK, you can't be, and therefore you do not have the right to free use f NHS services.


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