Living abroad wan't to deliver my baby in UK

[jenni11]

Hi
I need help and advice please on how to go about this as I am so loss over the whole thing. Here's the situation.

I am from uk (british citizen with a british passport but i was not born there). I am currently married with someone not from UK. We have been married for 6 months now and been living with him (in his home country) all this time. I am now 11 weeks pregnant and I'll like to have my baby there in UK. Personally i don't mind at all having him/her here but after reading online the disadvantages of mum having a different passport from her son/daughter i'll just prefer having her there.

My question - will it not be a problem with the law if go back now been outside UK more than 3 months? If it will be possible i want to go back on my 13 week register my pregnancy, gp, and everything and come back to stay with my husband untill i am about 26, 30 weeks..is that possible and won't be any problems with the law?

Thanks for your help, it is much appreciated.

It may not be that straightforward as you are unlikely to be still registered with a gp and there are restrictions on healthcare tourism so you may yet find yourself having to pay rather than free on NHS. Do check this very carefully. Do you have a residence in UK at which you can base yourselves, as it coudl be a long stay ? You may have to delay your return home if you have a caesarian or were you or the baby unwell, let alone getting the birth registered and a passport.

By not registering until 13 weeks you'd miss a routine scan and opportunity for nuchal screening unless you can arrange this locally. You can never tell how a pg may progress so you'd need antenatal care wherever you are living and a back up birth plan. Also if you came to UK your dh may not be there to support you at the birth and immediately afterwards. Would you have any family support instead ?

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply..Yeh I do have a residence in UK (my parents house)and currently do have antenatal care where I am living. All my scans (so far only one) have been here and the gynocologist does everything midwifes do up till this point. I have also had nuchal screening already here locally.

P.S: I was just reading this link www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Entitlementsandcharges/OverseasVisitors/Browsable/DH_074386..I have never been outside UK for more than 3 months ago so I may still be entitled..Just hope I understood the article ok!

Again thanks for the help..much appreciated.

Are you a UK resident though? Just because you have a mailing address doesnt make you a resident?

Look on the HMC&E website to check residency status.

If you live full time outside the UK and are not in the UK for 90 days per year, you could well qualify as non-resident which means you dont get free healthcare

Tbh, most people spend more time trying to prove non-residency than residency - there are tax advantages of being a non-resident which may outweigh the benefits of some temp free healthcare, depeding on your financial status.

if you are uk subject, i'm pretty sure you can have dual nationality for your offspring if born outside the uk. if that's your main reason for wanting to give birth in the uk, you can travel back after the birth to register them.

Hi there

Firstly, congratulations on your pregnancy.

I would speak to someone at the local British Embassy or contact the home office to check this out. I am British - but was not born in the UK so have looked into this and there are some issues about the transference of citizenship to one's child if you and the child were both born outside of the UK.

We live outside the UK and in our case, because my DH is British and was born in England, our DC - born outside the UK - were still entitled to British citizenship, but without a British born father and without being born in Britain, I think the link for our DC may have been a bit more tenuous.

I'm not sure what the details of your circumstances are, but it is worth checking out.

HTH

It is doable as long as your DC has a British born grandparent and you can show sufficiently strong links to the UK e.g. extended period of residence as an adult. You will have to apply for it though as it doesn't come automatically.

Also there are ways around it if you were born overseas as a result of the British govt e.g. a diplomatic, other civil service or military posting.

Depending on where you are you might be better off investigating this line of enquiry before you make plans to deliver in the UK. NHS bills for overseas can be quite crippling and insurance may not cover them if you returned to the UK with the specific intention of giving birth there.

Well, I don't think you can pass on British citizenship to your child UNLESS he/she is born in the UK.

I say this because I was born in UK and my children are eligible for British citizenship through me, even though they were born outside of UK and their father is a different nationality. Their children, ( my future grandchildren) however, will not be eligible unless are born in UK.

I'm not sure about your position with regards to GP, health care etc. If you have family and can register at their address in UK it may be possible.

Polly your grandchildren aren't automatically eligible but they can apply for it. You would need to ensure that your children met residence requirements (university counts).

registration of a child as a British citizen

children born abroad to British citizens by descent

A child will have an entitlement to be registered under section 3(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 if:

• they were born outside the United Kingdom; or
• they were born after 21 May 2002 outside any of the British overseas territories; and
• they were born to parents, one or both of whom are British citizens by descent; and
• the parent who is British by descent was born to a parent (the child's grandparent) who was a British citizen otherwise than by descent (or would have been but for their death); and the parent who is British by descent lived in the United Kingdom at any time before the child's birth for a continuous period of three years; and
• during the period they were living in the United Kingdom the parent was not absent for more than 270 days; and
• the application is made before the child's 18th birthday.

They, however, will not be able to pass it on by descent. They would need to return to the UK to either naturalise, thus becoming a British citizen otherwise than by descent enabling them to pass it on to their children, or have their children there in order for them to be eligible.

However if living in Britain on a permanent basis before child is 15 it might be worth waiting to register under 3(5)

Of course that's how the law stands at the moment - by the time it's relevant to your children it might be different!

Oooh and there are loopholes depending on why BCD was given in the first place and whether you/they could fall into another citizenship category.

Whenever I take either of the DC's to Children's Hospital, I am asked as a matter of routine whether I have been resident in the UK for the past 12 months. I thought it was because I am not a UK citizen, but have ILR, but was asking one of the admin assistants and she said that they have to ask everyone as the requirement is 12 months residency to use NHS services.

Which country are you living in now, if its in the EU I think that may make a difference but not sure.

I see lots of Polish women who have only been in the country a few months but come here to give birth and we don't bill them for using the maternity services.

Though I think if you've never been out of the UK for more than 3 months at a time then that would be fine. A British person I know spends 9 months a year in Africa and 3 months a year here. Has done for ages, she's still entitled to NHS care when she's here.

Why don't you ask the GP you are supposed to be registered with, if you really want to know? Ask the NHS. Ask the embassy in the country you live in. What are you afraid of? Ask the appropriate people.

ilovemydogandMrObama if they've told you that, then they're a bit confused, sadly! For example, when I came over here on a residency visa I was able to use the NHS straight away.

The OP will have to look a bit deeper into the situation.

Don't think they were confused. Because one person was treated on the NHS doesn't necessarily mean that it's in accordance with the policy and there has been a lot of measures to ensure that those receiving treatment are entitled.

It has do with the definition of 'ordinarily resident'

From the Dept of Health:

here

are you far from the UK? Thinking travel arrangments etc. Keep in mind not all airlines will be happy to fly you later on in pregnancy, also in terms of how convenient it would be for yu to move there and dh to fly to the UK at short notice or if you were there for a longer period, to come for visits.

I think since you wre born overseas, your dh is not British, it will be a hassle getting british nationality for your dc and if it is the main thing for you atm , I would endeavour to give birth in the UK. Can your mum go in and talk to your GP, contact teh NHS on your behalf and find out where you stand?

There won't be a legal problem with your coming back to the UK to have your baby, but there could be a financial-medical problem as depending on your exact circumstances you might not be entitled to free NHS medical care. It will depend on where you are considered to be ordinarily resident.

There is nothing in those DofH duidelines saying about 12 months though. Where I work we definetly treat people for free who have only been in this country a few months.

I think that you will find that you aren't entitled I'm afraid. If you are intending to stay in the UK permanently after the birth it would be fine, but if you're planning on going back overseas you will struggle to qualify. I went back in December to give birth and at every single appointment I was asked to prove that I was entitled to NHS treatment - I ended up printing off the relevant bit of legislation (I fall into a special category of people exempt from the charges) and waving it at anyone who asked. My advice would be to contact the GPs practice and/or the Overseas Patients manager at the hosptial that you would give birth in as it will ultimately be their decision. Good luck!

WomanattheWell is right. What you are talking about is health tourism, using the NHS for free treatment or even a British passport? when the UK isn't your ordinary place of residence. If you're going to come back just to give birth, you aren't entitled.

Agree with the above- there's a difference between someone coming to the UK with the intention to live there and become resident (i.e the people to whom stripeyknickers refers) and Uk citizens who now live outside the UK and who are claiming non-residency status in the UK.

eg I became a Hong Kong resident the day I got to Hong Kong because I had applied to live there. I am now no longer resident in the UK despite having previously lived there for 34 years, so duration is less important than intent.

Thank you for all the replies..It is highly appreciated.

After reading all of this plus we did extra research from other sources me and my dh decided for me to stay in the UK permanently after the birth and for now he will try to get a visiting visa untill everything comes down and we sort out what to do next. It will be extremely hard for us to be apart but i guess that's life.

Like i said on my first post that I am now 11 weeks pregnant. When do you think would be the right time for me to go back to UK?..I have checked airlines like the british airways which I am planning to use that when i go back as there are no transits etc. They have no travel restrictions for pregnant travelers up to the 36th week of pregnancy except for pregnant passengers expecting multiple births, where travel restrictions begin after the 32nd week. It'll be really great if i can some more time with my husband before going back as we dontknow about his visa and whether he'll be able to visit us while i am in UK or not.

Again thanks for your help.

Where are you flying from? Whilst travel up to the 36th week might be premissible I don't know if it would be comfortable from, say, Australia!

You'll also want to have time to 'book in' with maternity services in Britain etc.

Can your DH not get a visa by virtue of being married to you? As you are a British citizen, and presumably over 21, your DH should be able to get a settlement visa if you return to live in the UK permanently.

It is worth doing quickly if your DH doesn't speak English because as of this autumn there's a compulsory language element.

here

useful qeustionnaires

What's wrong with the country you're living in now?

Are there any reasons why it would be a real disadvantage to have that country's passport/nationality?

Hi everyone,

ViveLaFrank i guess you're right travelling at 36 will be uncomfortable and having the time to book in with maternity services is also very important..I am guessin will 6 months be ok to go? around 22 to 26 weeks maybe?..The "book in" is really important for me as i wouldn't want to get into any problem and hassle once i am back..I would really like everything to go as smooth as possible.

Right now we are trying to get him a 6 month visiting visa by virtue of being married to me and after that try the settlement visa. He can speak English really well. Thank god!

ValiumSingleton - Yes i can say there is a real disadvantage/s in having my baby here. Everything is of low standard and I mean really low standard. For one medical care here is rubbish unless you are very very rich and sometimes even then you can face problems and i guess i am just one of those people who tend to think about worst case cenarios than good. Example if anything were to happen to my relationship i wouldn't want to have any problems or complications in having my child back with me in UK. Even thou I wasn't born there but still been UK since i was 7 years old so its home to me.

p.s: ValiumSingleton thanks for the links.

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.

ps: yeah im over 21..24 to be exact.