Having a Baby in the USA...Am I going about this correctly?

[FordGirl027]

Hello all- hoping for a more concise answer to my questions, hopefully someone will be able to shed some light for me

I am American, my Husband is Canadian (Ontario). We haven't submitted our application yet, I am still waiting for my fingerprints from the FBI, and I haven't fully made a decision if I will be getting the chest X-ray during my second trimester (though I am aware that I can defer until after we have the baby). When we returned from our honeymoon, we found out that we are expecting a baby this June. I am fully insured in the US, so I am not looking for a quick fix to get me coverage in Canada, but obviously I want to spend as much time with my husband during our pregnancy as possible.

I think I have this right, but I am probably confused- aye the woes of pregnancy and stress!!

We plan on having the baby in the US...I have insurance that will cover me, but not the baby- I will have to purchase insurance in the US for our child. Our baby will be a dual citizen (though my research suggests that the US will not recognize Canadian citizenship in addition to American).

I will then have to apply for proof of Canadian citizenship for our baby in order to recognize that the baby is indeed Canadian. (10 months??)

Now my question is that, OHIP coverage is immediate for babies born in Canada, but not for those born outside of the great white north Will I need to provide proof of the babies citizenship (ie, the certificate that takes 10 months to get back) or will my husbands proof of citizenship be enough for us to start processing for OHIP coverage for our baby? I obviously don't want to have to raise the baby on my own, nor should my husband be unable to take part in raising our child. I feel that I must be making a mistake 10 months for proof of citizenship + 3 months for OHIP to take effect seems harsh... afterall, Canadian immigration is supposed to pride itself on reuiniting families.

I guess the other option, if I am in fact correct about that atrocious waiting time, would be to purchase insurance for the baby in Canada. Which I certainly haven't done any research on yet, and am quite ignorant on the topic.

The other question is... I assume before I can bring our baby accross the border, he/she will need to have a passport (we almost always drive, it's only 10 hours and we have done that drive soooooooooo many times lol) so I will defiintely have to get the US passport (correct?) as I won't have proof of citizenship for the baby for at least 10 months?


Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you for taking the time to read through all of that!!

 

[rjessome]

Once the baby is born, apply for the baby's citizenship card at the embassy. After you have applied for it, you can apply for the baby's temporary Canadian passport if you want to travel to Canada. If you are planning on moving to Canada soon, you can ask them to expedite the citizenship card. The official timeline for a citizenship card is something like a year while you may get it in as little as a month if you ask them to expedite.

Medical insurance in Canada is governed by provincial legislation, not federal like Immigration. So one has nothing to do with the other. Ontario has a 3 month residency period before you become eligible for their insurance. Get travel insurance for yourself and the baby for the 3 months. It's pretty easy to get and you can shop around for the best price.

 

[chrimano]

We were in a situation like this. My wife is Canadian, I am European on a working visa in the US.
There is no legally problem having the american and the canadian citizenship.
After our baby was born, we took the american birthcertificate and sent it with other requested papers to the canadian embassy.
It took around 8 months to get canadian citizenship certificate - we did not ask for expediting.
We used the american passport to travel to Canada for visiting relatives which we got very fast (I think it was like 3 weeks after we got the SIN)
Now applying for her Canadian passport from the US would take appx. 4 weeks but if you do it in Canada it only takes minimum 10days.

Regarding the OHIP yes there is a 3 month waiting time and you will have to get private insurance for this time e.g. blue cross...

 

[RobsLuv]

All that it means when it's said that the US does not "recognize" dual citizenship is that a dual Canadian/American citizen living in the States is living there under their US citizenship, so the Canadian citizenship is irrelevant. It's the same in Canada - a dual citizen would be living in Canada under their Canadian citizenship, so the US citizenship is irrelevant. Both countries allow dual citizenship - so your child will not have to choose whether to be American or Canadian. S/he can be both and make a life in either country.

BTW, I'm sure you realize that whether your child is born in the States or in Canada, s/he will be a dual citizen.