Photo: Sami Keinänen
When my husband and I started thinking about having a child, one of the first questions we asked ourselves was, “What country do we want to have our baby in?” As international teachers, it was important to us to time the pregnancy and delivery with being in a country where I felt comfortable giving birth. As I looked into some of our different options, I realized that there can be multiple benefits to giving birth abroad.
One reason to consider birth abroad, even if you live in your home country, is to set your child up with a second citizenship from birth. A number of countries, mostly in North, South and Central America, offer birthright citizenship, meaning that any baby born on that country’s soil automatically has a right to citizenship. This practice is known as jus soli, birthright by soil.
Depending on the country, a second citizenship and passport can give your child greater freedom to travel, less tax liability, access to more affordable health care or college education, and more employment and investment opportunities. A second citizenship will increase your child’s options, and although his or her adult future may seem a long way off, it can be well worth planning ahead.
Factors to Consider
If you are considering giving birth in a country other than your home country, here are some factors to research and think about.
1. Dual Citizenship Laws
Not all countries allow dual citizenship, and many countries only allow dual citizenship with a limited number of other countries. Find out about the dual citizenship regulations of your home country and the country you plan to have your baby in to make sure your child can hold both citizenships at the same time.
2. Tax Liability
Many countries do not tax income that is gained beyond its borders. The US is one country that does tax global income, making it more expensive in the long run to be a US citizen living outside the US than to be a non-resident citizen of another country.
3. Military Service Requirements
Some nations have an obligatory military service requirement for their citizens. Find out about these requirements as well as policies regarding involuntary drafting in times of war.
Photo: jaaron
4. Security Regulations
Citizens of some countries may be subject to increased security regulations. For example, foreign nationals from Arab and Muslim countries were questioned and fingerprinted as part of the US “Special Registration Program” after 9/11. While Pakistan offers birthright citizenship, Pakistani nationals are often subject to stricter travel and immigration laws.
5. Cost of College Education
The cost of a college education differs widely between countries, and many public institutions offer lower rates (or free universal education) for citizens of their country or residents of a particular area. Find out if any of the countries offering jus soli have subsidized or low-cost educational opportunities.
6. Prenatal Care & Delivery Options
Whether you choose to give birth at home or abroad, it’s important to find out about your prenatal care and delivery options. A country’s citizenship may seem ideal, but if you are not comfortable with the medical facilities and birth practices in that country (or you can’t afford them) then you will want to look for a different option. Talk to other expats who have given birth abroad and find out about their experiences and recommendations.
7. Maternity & Paternity Leave
If you decide to give birth while working overseas, make sure you know what your company’s policies are regarding maternity and paternity leave. How long is the leave, and will you be paid during that time? Some countries have laws that require employers to grant a certain number of days to new mothers and fathers. The leave can be as short as 10 days or as long as several months depending on the country and your employer.
8. Birth Tourism Packages
In the US, a ‘birth tourism’ industry has been built up to cater to expectant mothers. Some hotels, like the Marmana Manhattan, offer package deals for moms-to-be that include things like airport transfers, two months’ accommodation, baby cradle and special gift packages.
Countries Offering Birthright Citizenship
The following list is from NumbersUSA, an immigration resource for US citizens. Countries may discontinue the practice of jus soli at any time, so it’s best to contact your nearest embassy or consulate for current policies before making any plans to give birth abroad.
North America: Canada, United States, Mexico
Caribbean: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Christopher & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago
Central & South America: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
Asia: Azerbaijan, Pakistan
Africa: Lesotho
Pacific: Fiji
Final Decisions
In addition to the legal and medical factors, you will also want to consider more personal factors. If you have your baby abroad, will your family be able to visit you or be involved in your child’s early life? Will you be able to build a support network in your host country to help you during pregnancy and after the birth? If you plan on working after the birth, is quality childcare available?
Ultimately, we’ve decided to have our first child in the US as my husband is a dual Portuguese-American citizen and our child will already be born with two citizenships. For us, the personal factors, such as being closer to family able to spend more time with the baby because we’re currently back in school (and not working full-time teaching jobs), ended up being the deciding factors.
Community Connection
Have you ever had a child abroad or thought about giving birth abroad? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section.
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17 Comments... join the discussion!
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I was JUST talking about this yesterday with a friend. I’m a few years away from considering children just yet, but establishing dual citizenship is one of those things I’ve been strongly considering an asset — right up there with saving for college, in fact! Thank you so much for posting this overview!
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Definitely definitely doing this!! This way, if my wife turns out not to be Brazilian, at least our first-born can be!
I have dual citizenship and it has really simplified being a nomad in many ways.
Excellent suggestion, cheers!
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Excellent article Heather, as always. I love reading your writing, they are so interesting and informative
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I’m fascinated. Thanks for this article, Heather.
My husband and I don’t have kids, but contemplate it more and more as we get older. How fantastic it would it be to set up your child with dual citizenship? Definitely has my wheels turning.
Out of curiosity, what country, given all the factors listed above, would you most recommend for dual citizenship with the US?
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Hmm it really depends what you’re looking for in the citizenship country. Many of the Caribbean countries offer low or no tax liability for non-resident citizens, and those countries are easily accessible from the US. Think about if you want a place that has a sustainable economy, is geographically remote (go for Fiji or the mountains of northern Pakistan), has good international relations with other countries or offers benefits (like free education or free health care) to its citizens. If we opted for giving birth abroad solely for the citizenship, I’d probably choose Brazil due to the language factor – at least our kids would be able to understand the local language!
Maybe I need to research all these options some more and do a series on it for my blog….
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I am currently pregnant and trying to discover the best country to have this baby for dual citizenship. My husband and I are U.S. citizens and we prefer having the child in Fiji, although we cannot find out for certain about Fiji dual citizenship abilities. Are there specialists who can help in this serious type of research? How did you learn the most accurate information to answer the important questions you listed? Thanks!
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Some countries are more transparent with their information than others. I’d start by browsing embassy websites and seeing if you can find anything about birthright citizenship and then follow that up with a phone call to your nearest embassy or consulate to find out about the legal issues. To hear about other people’s experiences with prenatal care and delivery in a certain country or city, it’s best to search expat forums or try to contact some other families directly to find out about their experiences. One place to look is the forums at International Schools Review (where I think this topic has been discussed a few times) as many international teachers end up giving birth abroad. You need a subscription to read school reviews (which sometimes include info relevant to giving birth if one of the teachers writing the review gave birth while there, but finding this info is like looking for a needle in a haystack), but you can access the International Schools Review forums for free. I’d suggest trying to get in touch with other expats in Fiji via blogs or forums and get advice from them. We considered giving birth in Pakistan (because we lived there, not for the citizenship) and it was easiest to get info from people who were already ‘on the ground’ and had experience with the health care system.
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Nice article! We also decided to have our first here in the states (last november!) even though we were planning on moving to China. I am a birth rights activist and asia is NOT at all the ideal place to have babies (not for safety reasons, but for matters of choice (they are overly fond of c-sections and medical interventions..and not letting the husbands in the room!), outside of medical tourism places such as Thailand, where we’ll probably have our next child).
We’re moving to China next month though, and in about 2 years we’ll have our next. It won’t be feasible to move back to the states, so we’ll either be living in Korea by then (you get absorbed into their universal health care there) or fly down to Thailand (2k birth packages and actual opportunity for natural & water births). We sure wish Europe had jus soli! I would smuggle myself over, for sure!
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Many of our expat friends in Pakistan would go to Thailand annually for all their medical needs and always raved about the treatment and the prices. 2k birth packages with those kind of options make Thailand look like a really attractive option…gosh I could fly there a month beforehand, stay there for a month after the birth and probably spend LESS than I will here in the US even with insurance. Tempting…
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Yep! Japan is super expensive for births too (I think they don’t consider it a health issue so it’s not part of insurance or some such), and I had an expat friend a few months ago who flew out there for a month (with her husband & son) and the husband flew back to japan and then back to thailand around the due date, they lived in a great temporary apartment and had great care still costing a fraction of what it would have in Japan… it’s crazy! OBs/Hospitals everywhere in what we’d consider the “developed” world are way out of control.
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Great post. My husband and I have thought about this a lot for when we have our second child. We were going to have it in America until I compared the cost and actual birth experience to home in Oz. I found here in America, the control was more in the hands of the doctors and less in mine. Where as in Australia I can say exactly how I wanted my birth to be. The experience of the birth of my first child was so calm and beautiful that I felt I could not replicate that the way I wanted in the US. Not only that but with free health care, it did not cost me anything. And our government gives you a tax free baby bonus when you give birth. These really were arguments that won the case for having our second child, when its time, back in Oz. So it is really important to think of things like this
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Wow, so happy to hear you such a positive experience in Australia. I’ve been struggling to ‘navigate’ the US system so I can feel comfortable (and in control) while giving birth here in the states.
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Believe it or not, my husband and I were living in Iran in the 1970’s when we became pregnant. We had finished two years of Peace Corps service, and were working in the private sector in the beautiful city of Isfahan. Iran was rapidly modernizing at the time, and there were excellent hospitals and medical facilities. We had many friends there, both Iranian and expat, and we decided to have the baby there.
Our son was born in 1977. We left when he was three months old, just a few months before the Iranian revolution, carrying his American birth certificate and passport and all the documents for his Iranian citizenship should we decide to pursue it. Needless to say, with the Shah leaving just months after we did and the Islamic Republic installed, we did not choose to apply for Iranian citizenship for our son.
He and his younger brother did grow up eating Persian food, playing on Persian rugs, and hearing us speak Farsi to each other. The understanding and empathy fostered by the experience of having a child overseas still permeates our family’s worldview. We would do it exactly the same way again, even with everything that’s happened since, or maybe especially so, because we are able to speak of the human side of that very misunderstood country.
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Thanks for sharing Jackie! You’re so right that exposing children to different cultures and languages is key in shaping worldview and fostering understanding.
My husband and I would love to live and work in Iran. I’m hoping I’ll get my Portuguese citizenship soon which could open up doors for employment and visas, but I’m not sure if being dual American citizens would still be a catch. We’ll have to wait and see!
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Hi,
I am interested if there is birthright citizenship in Portugal?
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Not in the same way that the US and Canada offer it – only if the parents are nationals of a Portuguese speaking country (as the official language) and have been living in Portugal for at least six years. Otherwise, if the parents are not from a country where Portuguese is the official language and have been living in Portugal for at least 10 years (not as civil servants), the parents can apply for citizenship for themselves and the child.
Read about it on Numbers USA:
http://www.numbersusa.com/content/node/7628
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