flyingspaghettimonster

Hello,

I'm new so please don't eat me :-) Someone suggested this place might have the advice I need so here I am...

We are living in Virginia, USA whilst hubby gets his PhD - have been here 3 years with another 3 or so to go before we consider changing visas etc if we want to stay here permanently. We already have two kids and are currently expecting no. 3 in April.

The baby will be born in the States. Does anyone know what I need to do to make it all okay? Will it affect my Visa (I am only here on hubby's student visa, so have no working rights etc - I'm barely even acknowledged as an alien it seems!) and will the baby have dual-citizenship?

Who do I need to inform about the pregnancy? Are there any advice numbers I should call etc?

I am presuming since I am not in England I am not entitled to any of the maternity grants/child benefits etc I would get if I was over there, but if anyone has any information on anything this baby might be entitled to I'd be grateful to hear it, as we are struggling with all the medical bills incurred with an unexpected pregnancy whilst living on a teaching assistantship and family help...

Thankyou for any advice you are able to offer me.

fatbrit

Baby will be a US citizen courtesy of Amendment XIV. Get it a birth certificate, social security card and US passport.

Baby will be a UK citizen if you can pass your citizenship on--almost certainly if you or hub were born in the UK. Get it a Consular Record of Birth and UK passport from the UK Embassy in DC.

flyingspaghettimonster

thankyou, both hubby and I are British so I assumed we would probably be able to get a British nationality sorted. I just seem to recall on all the visa applications we had to promise we weren't going to have a baby here or something - it's been 3 years so I don't recall what we signed to, but the visa forms seemed designed to make us prove we had absolutely no interest or intention of ever living here on a permanent basis... very strange forms really. I didn't want to find out we'd broken our visa agrements and get deported or something...

MsElui

i have the paperwork in front of me right now (my little US citizen baby was born a few days ago).

I had a home birth so i have a bunch of paperwork from my midwives which i need to complete and take into the local department of vital statistics to get a US birth certificate. The info is purely about verifying that a live birth took place and the general details. It doesnt ask about mine or my husband alien status (apart from ssn's - which we have). The form actually has a box to tick to ask if you want an ssn issued for the baby.

once we get the birth cert we will apply for a US passport for her. and will also apply for a uk passport etc.

fatbrit

Never heard of that one.

notacrime

Congrats on the bairn MsElui.

OP - the USCIS have some crazy rules, but preventing you from having children isn't one of them, I think that would be pretty hard to enforce...

penguinsix

I'm gathering you have some sort of insurance set up with the your husbands school or something? Having a baby sans insurance is not a good idea. It can be pretty costly.

As others have noted, the baby will be a USC and remain so at least until they are 18, when, if they want, they can renounce citizenship should they so desire. Being a citizen has several benefits, and a few requirements. For example they'll need to file US tax filings for the rest of their life no matter where they live in the world (subject to treaties and whatnot, but US citizens are taxed on their worldwide income regardless of residence). They'll also have to register for selective service (draft) when they turn 18, if the baby is a boy. But on the upside he can sponsor you in 20 years or so for a green card, and by being born here they are eligible to run for President of the United States, something naturalized citizens cannot do.

Anyway, double check on the insurance thing. Pretty important. If you don't have some coverage--get some. Pregnancy is not considered a pre-existing condition, on paper, though some insurance companies can be jerks about it.

flyingspaghettimonster

lol, yes I guess it would be hard to enforce... glad to hear it is all a lot simpler than I expected. I just hope this new one being American won't cause jealousy with the other 2 (2 and 4) in later life as it will be hard to explain to them why the new one will have more rights.

Congratulations MrsElui on your new arrival and also on having a home birth - they seem awfully keen on doctor-led care here so I am surprised you managed to get that! I have to have a c-section due to prior background with my last birth, so I don't get a lot of choice. Yes, we have insurance - it is obligatory through the university. The only reason the last baby was born back home was because we found out we were expecting him just after planning the move and the insurance wouldn't cover the pre-existing. I am surprised how expensive the birth is anyway even with insurance though. Gives you a newfound respect for the NHS when you suddenly have medical bills for the first time...

Bluegrass Lass

No such thing as maternity grants or child benefits. If you have a kid, you're expected to take care of him/her yourself.

I don't know if you have a program called Women, Infant & Children (WIC) in VA. That program is for low income households, and it can cover formula, cereal, milk, baby food, etc for the baby. However, if there is a similar program in VA, you need to check to see if you would qualify for it, given you are only a visa holder and not PRs or USCs.

fatbrit

Now this is where you could get into trouble on a non-immigrant visa.

meauxna

WIC should not be a problem; it is not a means tested benefit and immigration status is not factored into eligibility. (What WIC Staff Should Know About Immigration Status Rules: The INS has written that using nutrition programs like food stamps and WIC do not count someone as a “public charge”.) <---always check for current information!

One rationale is that it is a benefit for the USC child/incipient child.

Women, Infants and Children

WIC provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/
http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/howtoapp...quirements.htm

JAJ

More rights ... also, more obligations.

Baby will also be only British "by descent" which can lead to restrictions on the next generation being British, if also born outside the United Kingdom.