HELP! Pregnant american, canadian father still in canada.

[pnicole503]

Any info people may have is greatly appreciated at this time. I'm 25, american and preganant. I also have sole custody of my six year old daughter. The father of my unborn child, due in mid October, is a canadain citizen. He is currently in the U.S. with me on a visitor visa, but we both have plans on living in Canada. We are not married at this time, but are engaged. However, we were worried that us getting married in the U.S would make it look like he was trying to stay here when that is indeed not the case.

My question is: COULD I GO TO CANADA AND HAVE THIS BABY WHILE GETTING PRENATAL CARE UP TO THE POINT OF DELIVERY EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT A CITIZIN? COULD I IF WE WERE MARRIED?

I stayed in the U.S thus far through my pregnancy due to my financial situation and that I have 100% medical coverage here. Plus I had a daughter in school, but now that it's summer it'd be nice to be able to move during this time so come October when the baby is here I'm not trying to move with a kid and a newborn on my own in the middle of winter. My fiance makes it sound so easy. Like all I have to do is get up there and everything will be taken care of and i can't be denied medical. I just don't seeing it being that easy or there'd be people flooding the boarder. Please, if anyone knows any facts of information that could help me it'd be deeply appreciated. Thank you for your time and reading my post.

[scylla]

You can have the baby in Canada. However you will have to pay the prenatal and delivery costs out of pocket - you won't be covered by public health care. Getting married won't change this. Unfortunately private health care (insurance) won't cover any of these costs either since pregnancy is considered to be a pre-existing condition.

Having a baby in Canada without public health care will cost you thousands. If money is a concern, it would be far better to have the baby in the US.

[scylla]

To add...

Although this may still be several months off, you should be aware that you can't just "move" to Canada. You can certainly visit. However if you arrive at the boarder with two kids in tow and a car load of personal belongings, you could be refused entry (because they may suspect you're coming for longer than just a visit). It once again doesn't matter if you're married to a Canadian or not. You're still not allowed to move here without having the right status (like permanent residency).

If you plan to move here, you and your boyfriend should start reading up on the spousal sponsorship process now (the process to get you permanent residency status in Canada). Your boyfriend can sponsor you if you are either married or common law (common law = have lived together for a minimum of one full year and can prove it). I would suggest that you start by reading the first post in the following thread to start educating yourself about the process:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

As part of the sponsorship application, you will have to get a medical. Since you are pregnant, you can't have the medical (x-rays are involved). Consequently I think you will have to wait until after the baby is born to submit your application.

Again, have a read through the thread I provided above. It will explain your options. Then let us know if you have any further questions and I'm sure someone here will answer.

[pnicole503]

Thank you taking the time to respond. I really appreciate your information. I had read the spousal sponsorship guidelines before and I figured that would be the way I'd had to go. My fiance, however, seems to think otherwise so its nice to have some outside imput. Thank you.