Need perspectives on CRBA from Pakistan vs delivering in the US

[letmein 2]

Hello VJ folks, 

I am asking for a friend; both husband and wife are US citizens, and his spouse is pregnant. His spouse and kids are currently in Pakistan for personal reasons and were planning to stay in Pakistan for a while. He's trying to decide whether to have the wife deliver the baby in Pakistan or have them travel to the US to their home. What's a better option, and if there are any potential downsides now or in the long run?

 

Option 1: Deliver the baby in Pakistan, file CRBA and receive the US passport there in Pakistan. Babay's place of birth will be registered as Pakistan on his US passport. Does this post any real downsides for child's life. I think not but still asking in case there's something they should keep in mind.

I've no idea how the CRBA process works in Pakistan, things like what's required of the US citizen parents, how long does it take to get the US passport for the newborn etc 

 

Option 2: Deliver the baby in the US, go through the passport application process and it's pretty streamlined, no surprises.

 

Thank you for reading this far and I appreciate your help. Thank you!

[OldUser 7,539]

29 minutes ago, letmein said:

Option 1: Deliver the baby in Pakistan, file CRBA and receive the US passport there in Pakistan. Babay's place of birth will be registered as Pakistan on his US passport. Does this post any real downsides for child's life. I think not but still asking in case there's something they should keep in mind.

Yes, there may be bias towards the child through life because of this. They may be subject to extra checks at various agencies because of birth place.

 

If feasible, I'd deliver child in the US. You can get birth certificate easier in the US etc.

 

Would they also be dual citizen of Pakistan and USA? I'd avoid Pakistani citizenship if the plan for kid to live in the US. Dual citizens may be restricted in career choices etc.

Edited January 23 by OldUser

[lenny_k 13]

It depends how easy it is for her to give birth in the US. If it’s pretty easy, go for it. Less ways for it to go wrong throughout the kids life. If it’s not that easy, give birth in Pakistan. I have family members born outside of the US and they are fine with dual citizenship sharing with their birth country (the US allows it) and have never had any issue with traveling or jobs. 

[letmein 2]

17 hours ago, OldUser said:

Yes, there may be bias towards the child through life because of this. They may be subject to extra checks at various agencies because of birth place.

 

If feasible, I'd deliver child in the US. You can get birth certificate easier in the US etc.

 

Would they also be dual citizen of Pakistan and USA? I'd avoid Pakistani citizenship if the plan for kid to live in the US. Dual citizens may be restricted in career choices etc.

Thank you for your reply. I know a lot of Pakistani origin naturalized citizens who also keep their Pakistani passport valid for travel etc. In case of newborn who was born in the US, their parents typically apply for Pakistani passport so in that sense those who were born in the US sometimes still choose to have the dual citizenship. 

 

I suppose by additional scrutiny by agencies you mean if one had to apply for Govt jobs? For private sector, it doesn't matter.

[letmein 2]

14 hours ago, lenny_k said:

It depends how easy it is for her to give birth in the US. If it’s pretty easy, go for it. Less ways for it to go wrong throughout the kids life. If it’s not that easy, give birth in Pakistan. I have family members born outside of the US and they are fine with dual citizenship sharing with their birth country (the US allows it) and have never had any issue with traveling or jobs. 

Thank you for your reply. I've seen more examples of this, people who were born in Pakistan, then got naturalized as US citizens through various pathways (work visa- H1B, family-based immigration etc) and still kept their Pakistani citizenship. 

 

To be honest, I would like to know if the process of getting all the paperwork in order and what the US embassy may require for CRBA is too time consuming or if there're things to have in place (getting parents's US passport renewed if needed, social security card of the parent (probably not needed), proof of US parent living in the US.. Like I said I have no idea of the process hence asking all these questions.

[OldUser 7,539]

49 minutes ago, letmein said:

I suppose by additional scrutiny by agencies you mean if one had to apply for Govt jobs? For private sector, it doesn't matter.

Government jobs, jobs requiring security clearance, getting traveler trusted program memberships, sponsoring others for immigration benefits in the future etc.

 

I'll let somebody post the process details for CRBA, but obviously getting proof of citizenship in the US and having only US citizenship is a much simpler route.

 

[lenny_k 13]

11 hours ago, letmein said:

Thank you for your reply. I've seen more examples of this, people who were born in Pakistan, then got naturalized as US citizens through various pathways (work visa- H1B, family-based immigration etc) and still kept their Pakistani citizenship. 

 

To be honest, I would like to know if the process of getting all the paperwork in order and what the US embassy may require for CRBA is too time consuming or if there're things to have in place (getting parents's US passport renewed if needed, social security card of the parent (probably not needed), proof of US parent living in the US.. Like I said I have no idea of the process hence asking all these questions.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/while-abroad/birth-abroad.html

[appleblossom 3,139]

On 1/23/2025 at 1:15 AM, letmein said:

Hello VJ folks, 

I am asking for a friend; both husband and wife are US citizens, and his spouse is pregnant. His spouse and kids are currently in Pakistan for personal reasons and were planning to stay in Pakistan for a while. He's trying to decide whether to have the wife deliver the baby in Pakistan or have them travel to the US to their home. What's a better option, and if there are any potential downsides now or in the long run?

 

Option 1: Deliver the baby in Pakistan, file CRBA and receive the US passport there in Pakistan. Babay's place of birth will be registered as Pakistan on his US passport. Does this post any real downsides for child's life. I think not but still asking in case there's something they should keep in mind.

I've no idea how the CRBA process works in Pakistan, things like what's required of the US citizen parents, how long does it take to get the US passport for the newborn etc 

 

Option 2: Deliver the baby in the US, go through the passport application process and it's pretty streamlined, no surprises.

 

Thank you for reading this far and I appreciate your help. Thank you!

 

Are his other kids US citizens already too? Just that you only mention him and his wife being USC’s, but as she’d need to be away from Pakistan for at least a couple of months probably, I’m assuming she won’t want to leave the kids behind so just wanted to check they’ll be ok to enter the US. 

 

And how’s her health insurance? If it’s good then I concur with the above, if possible I’d go with her giving birth in the US. 

 

Good luck to them. 

[letmein 2]

4 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

Are his other kids US citizens already too? Just that you only mention him and his wife being USC’s, but as she’d need to be away from Pakistan for at least a couple of months probably, I’m assuming she won’t want to leave the kids behind so just wanted to check they’ll be ok to enter the US. 

 

And how’s her health insurance? If it’s good then I concur with the above, if possible I’d go with her giving birth in the US. 

 

Good luck to them. 

Thank you for your reply! Their other kids are US citizens, were born in the US. I think the other kids will travel with her if they decide to travel to US.

 

They have their home in the US and are in Pakistan for extended period due to personal reasons.

 

Husband is gainfully employed and has health insurance. I think they need to figure out if he can add coverage for the spouse if he currently has only coverage for himself.