Having a baby in the USA on a TN visa...any experience?

I'm currently working in the USA on a TN visa. I will be having a baby out of wedlock with an American father. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I don't know whether it would ...

Canadian Expatriate and Travellers Forum Index -> Canadians in the USA -> US Visas and Immigration

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talia1981
New Member

Joined: 12 May 2008
Posts: 1
Location: Boston, MA

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:33 am

I'm currently working in the USA on a TN visa. I will be having a baby out of wedlock with an American father. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I don't know whether it would be easiest to not list him on the birth cert. and keep the baby in my last name for renewal purposes. I'm nervous that the USA would view this as an anchor baby case and not renew my visa. My thoughts on the birth cert. would allow easier access when I want to visit Canada and when I want to renew my visa. This would be my first renewal.

I'm also nervous that he would have more rights to the child because it is "American" and if I was denied a renewal he could keep the baby in the USA.

Any kind of info would help!

Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1368
Location: Calgary

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:37 pm

The rights of the father etc. are under an international treaty that Canada and the US are signed up to, so the courts generally respect each other's custody decisions and so on.

If you register the child with the embassy it will have Canadian citizenship so the only likely problem is if the USCIS officer looks at the place of birth in the passport and queries it. And if
that really worries you, use the alternative documentation, although I'm not sure if babies can get it (bit too young to drive). NEXUS card maybe?

Just because your baby is born in the US confers absolutely zero advantage on your immigration status. The US cracked down on this years ago to stop Mexicans from having kids in US hospitals and then using it as a reason to stay. Only if the child is raised there AND it would cause serious distress or problems for the child themselves to be removed from the US is a parent likely to get permanent residence out of it. Can't see how that would happen with a Canadian, although the father being American might have a bearing, i.e. you could use that as a reason to get permanent residency to maintain family ties.

So say you have full custody and you have to leave the US, the child comes with you. Legally it has to unless the custody situation changes.
_________________
Steve.

eddycurrents
CanuckAbroad Regular

Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 42

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 5:30 am

I checked this with our immigration lawyers a few months ago. They said if a baby is born on US soil, he is automatically an American citizen. I have two colleagues from India who had a baby girl while in the US. She is American, they are still Indian. Odd, but there you go.

However, as Steven said, that makes no difference to your status. Just because you have an American child, it doesn't mean you are automatically entitled to live there. I assume the child is entitled and can, once he/she is old enough. That's what Bruce Lee did (he was born in the US but grew up in Hong Kong).

And I assume if you take the child back to Canada to live, he/she can become a naturalized Canadian citizen. If you (God forbid) die, does the kid get deported? If you and the father (God forbid) split up, does citizenship affect custody?

It's a weird situation all around. It's worth checking this with an immigration lawyer or at least the Canadian consulate for your situation.

Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1368
Location: Calgary

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 11:10 am

Yeah, this is one of the situations where you may well need an immigration lawyer. Because of the custody situation, it's not cut-and-dried. For example if joint custody is awarded by a court, and because the father is a US citizen, depriving the child of the mother and the fact there is a family court ruling can be used as a basis for hardship permanent residency, but you have to prove it.

Even if the child is born in Canada, the father could have some custody rights, and the family court in Canada has just as much right as a US court to grant access to the father. So where the child is born isn't terribly relevant other than that you may be going to a Canadian rather than US court.

That's if you go to family court, you don't necessarily need to, you can work it out with the father and just have custody papers drawn up for example.
_________________
Steve.