Child born on flight over Canada deemed Canadian citizen

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Here's a cool story -

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Life/Midair+b...1176/story.html

[Sprailenes 47]

How awesome!

[JillA 2]

Ohhh wow that's so funny! What if the baby was born over the ocean?!

Edited January 9, 2009 by JillA

[Sprailenes 47]

Then it would belong to the SEA!

Edited January 9, 2009 by Sprailenes

[JillA 2]

Then it would belong to the SEA!

[Bobby+Umit 161]

I am surprised a mother to be would risk her life and her child by flying that far into the pregnancy.

Interesting case though, since the women never really touch "ground" in Canada, I am surprised they did that.

I wonder if the mother was hoping to have the child in the US?

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Hard to say. The article does make reference to the fact that the child being recognized as Canadian was allowed into the US - think of the visa nightmare that would otherwise ensue with the ####### retentive US customs and immigration service being presented with a baby that had no visa? I suspect that this might have been a partial factor in the situation. It will be interesting to see how the child's other citizenships occur - Ugandan from the mother (does Uganda recognize dual citizens?). Is the father also Ugandan or American or some other nationality? I suspect this child will have an interesting life.

[Emancipation 2]

People here were talking about the story. It was in Boston's news headlines.. I didn't realize there was a CDN connection.

Really random.. wow.. I wondered if the woman was coming seeking refugee status or what her situation was in flying to the US at that late state in her pregnancy. I wish they had gone into more details on that..

[Reba 2]

I'm surprised the airline even let her board the flight.

[thetreble 19]

I'm surprised the airline even let her board the flight.

Exactly. I saw this last week and was scratching my head. Why would you choose to travel at 9 months and why would someone LET you travel at 9 months? Think of the liability of the airline if something had gone with the baby? It just seems really odd to me.

Not to mention, now you have a wacky situation with where the child is born VS citizenship, etc. What a silly thing to do in my opinion.

[Emancipation 2]

well that's why i wondered if this was some sort of refuge issue or some emergency situation where she needed to get to a safe place I guess.

[Jasman0717 9]

I am surprised a mother to be would risk her life and her child by flying that far into the pregnancy.

Interesting case though, since the women never really touch "ground" in Canada, I am surprised they did that.

I wonder if the mother was hoping to have the child in the US?

I am surprised the airline allowed her to board

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Wow, what an interesting story indeed! Thanks for sharing that with us here Kathryn!

Though as for the pregnant mother being able to fly on an airplane when they are in their last month of pregnancy is beyond my comprehension, as from what I've read (lol..ok, I've been reading a lot of information about pregnancy lately) air travel is generally not recommended after the 36th week/the eighth month of pregnancy, and the pregnant mother in this case was more along in her pregnancy than that when travelling...

As for the issue with the baby being granted Canadian citizenship, I agree that it has more to do with legalities than the practicality of the situation. The baby needed to have a visa in order to land, otherwise they would not let the baby go through customs. However, I think that since the baby landed in the USA (and did not even land/set foot in Canada), and was also treated in the hospital in Boston in the USA afterwards, they should have been given US Citizenship instead. On other hand, they could have triple citizenships, be it that: a) Their parent was Ugandian b )They were born in Canada (lol...Canadian airspace to be exact) and c) Their birth would most likely be registered in the USA...Oh what an interesting life story for this baby, indeed!

Hmmm...On a humourous note: I wonder what would happen if I drove my car and parked it on the Peace Bridge, went into labour there, and our Baby is born there....Our Baby will be Canadian and American then, as the bridge is both Canadian and American...Then again, I could just go the "simple route" and register an American birth to a Canadian parent with the Canadian Consulate instead...rofl....

On a somewhat humourous/serious note (which I'm kind of freaking out about, help!, anyone have any advice about that here too?): I wonder what would happen if I went into labour and gave birth to our Baby at the local USCIS immigration office. Scary thought really, but it could be a possiblity, as it just so happens that in July 2009 I could be called for an interview at the USCIS office regarding a decision on my I-751 case, and our Baby is due at around the same time (see my signature below). Lol..will they grant me automatic American citizenship in this case (or at least, they better approve my I-751/10yr green card application)...rofl....

Good luck everyone, on your immigration journeys. Lesson learned from this story: Do not travel when late in pregnancy, as the baby could be born with an "interesting life" indeed!

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, Still waiting for Baby...)

Here's a cool story -

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Life/Midair+b...1176/story.html

Hard to say. The article does make reference to the fact that the child being recognized as Canadian was allowed into the US - think of the visa nightmare that would otherwise ensue with the ####### retentive US customs and immigration service being presented with a baby that had no visa? I suspect that this might have been a partial factor in the situation. It will be interesting to see how the child's other citizenships occur - Ugandan from the mother (does Uganda recognize dual citizens?). Is the father also Ugandan or American or some other nationality? I suspect this child will have an interesting life.

Edited January 9, 2009 by AntandD

[Krikit 1,164]

Interesting. I wonder what would motivate her to do that? The flight was only 6 hours old when she went into labour. From my experience with childbirth, that means she would have been well into labour before she even boarded the flight. But, obviously, all child birth experiences are not the same. She could be one one of those Moms who just drops them out in 20 minutes. lol. The other interesting aspect is that she boarded in Amsterdam. If she was looking to have her child born to another citizenship The Netherlands is a pretty good place to be.

Hmmm...On a humourous note: I wonder what would happen if I drove my car and parked it on the Peace Bridge, went into labour there, and our Baby is born there....Our Baby will be Canadian and American then, as the bridge is both Canadian and American...Then again, I could just go the "simple route" and register an American birth to a Canadian parent with the Canadian Consulate instead...rofl....

Your baby will be Canadian and American whether you give birth on the Peace Bridge or not.

On a somewhat humourous/serious note (which I'm kind of freaking out about, help!, anyone have any advice about that here too?): I wonder what would happen if I went into labour and gave birth to our Baby at the local USCIS immigration office. Scary thought really, but it could be a possiblity, as it just so happens that in July 2009 I could be called for an interview at the USCIS office regarding a decision on my I-751 case, and our Baby is due at around the same time (see my signature below). Lol..will they grant me automatic American citizenship in this case (or at least, they better approve my I-751/10yr green card application)...rofl....

Wow. You're really having pregnant mother imagination stretches, aren't you? The chances of this happening are slim-to-none. I'd start finding something else to worry about.

[antda 13]

Hi Krikit,

Lol..just kidding about the Peace Bridge thing....kind of being there, I suppose....Lol..the only place I'll be travelling to at that late in the pregnancy is the local hospital anyways...

....I have an overactive imagination, despite pregnancy. But yeah, as for the really overactive imagination, I can especially "blame it on the pregnancy hormones"....

As for the chances of this I-751 interview happening with immigration (which the I-751 interview is only about a 10% chance of happening, so I've been told) and the Baby being born at the same time...who knows....as the USCIS can be really unpredictable at times in terms of how they handle cases and babies are unpredictable about their births too...but if both events ever happened at the same time....yup, I will definitely win the "10yr green card and Baby lottery" there!...wow....

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, Still waiting for Baby...)

Your baby will be Canadian and American whether you give birth on the Peace Bridge or not.

Wow. You're really having pregnant mother imagination stretches, aren't you? The chances of this happening are slim-to-none. I'd start finding something else to worry about.

Edited January 9, 2009 by AntandD