Having An Australian Baby In Thailand

[Chuckler]

My partner and I are having a baby in Chiang Mai at the end of September.

I am Australian, over here on a Non-Imm B visa. When the baby is born, we want to register him as an Australian citizen by descent. So we'll fill in the paperwork and submit it to the Australian embassy as specified here. One of potential problems is that it specifies on that page:

If one of the parents is NOT an Australian citizen they must provide certified true copy of whole passport including movement stamps for the period including 12 months prior to the birth of the child

My (Thai) partner doesn't have a passport, so I'm not sure what can be done about that, but I'm sure the embassy will advise.

Is it just me, or will the baby be staying illegally without a visa? Or is there an age limit or something that you need a visa beyond?

Can anyone else think of any "gotchas" that we need to take into consideration with this process? I've read through the form and it all looks pretty self-explanatory.

[think_too_mut]

My partner and I are having a baby in Chiang Mai at the end of September.

I am Australian, over here on a Non-Imm B visa. When the baby is born, we want to register him as an Australian citizen by descent. So we'll fill in the paperwork and submit it to the Australian embassy as specified here. One of potential problems is that it specifies on that page:

If one of the parents is NOT an Australian citizen they must provide certified true copy of whole passport including movement stamps for the period including 12 months prior to the birth of the child

My (Thai) partner doesn't have a passport, so I'm not sure what can be done about that, but I'm sure the embassy will advise.

Is it just me, or will the baby be staying illegally without a visa? Or is there an age limit or something that you need a visa beyond?

Can anyone else think of any "gotchas" that we need to take into consideration with this process? I've read through the form and it all looks pretty self-explanatory.

I did that back in May.

Married (legally) and Thai wife has passport.

In Oz Embassy they asked for her passport and for her old passport too (which she happened to have on her), my current and old passport.

Also, for a 1 page free form handwritten history of relationship and future plans. Baby's picture was signed by her doctor (Thai national) and baby's presence was not needed.

Your baby will be a Thai citizen by default, no need to mess with it. Oz citizenship by descent is totally unaffected by Thai citizenship, my baby has 2 passports now, both Thai and Oz.

[vegas]

My 2yo is half local, was born here, has her Aussie and Thai passport and has been to Australia. The whole process was fast, easy and relatively cheap (compared to pommie passport).

[samran]

if the mother has no passport, then it is a safe assumption that the mother is Thai.

Any child born to at least one Thai parent is automatically a Thai citizen. The Thai birth certificate which your child will get will reflect this, and the child will not need any visas to live in Thailand. IF your child needs to leave Thailand, you should get a Thai passport for the child to depart and return to Thailand on.

Your child will not be an Australian citizen until you register the child with the embassy and you receive an extract of the registration of a birth of an Australian citizen by decent. You should then apply for the Aussie passport. You should use the Aussie PP to enter and leave Australia, as well as any countries which it is easier to travel with a Aussie PP.

[think_too_mut]

Your child will not be an Australian citizen until you register the child with the embassy and you receive an extract of the registration of a birth of an Australian citizen by decent. You should then apply for the Aussie passport.

Once you have the documents, to gain Australian citizenship is a 1 step process: registering (not birth, this is more than that) Australian citizen by descent and the document that comes out (2-3 weeks later) is the Australian Citizenship Certificate.

From that moment, the baby is like any other Australian (baby) applying for Oz passport.

Both parents have to sign the the application (there is a step in the application called "Consent") and parents' signatures have to be witnessed.

If you have no Australian citizens around where you live or you don't know any Aussies in Thai, anyone who happens to be in the Embassy except their staff is fine. An accidental Aussie who happened to be there was our witness.

Of 2 baby's pictures that you have to submit, (check Oz Embassy web site for exact dimensions and how they have to be taken) 1 pic has to be signed by, say, baby's doctor, Thai national is fine.

The form asks some personal things from the doctor - date of doctor's birth, private home address. Day of birth you have to get, the address and phones can be those of the hospital. Get and enclose doctor's business card.

Edited August 5, 2008 by think_too_mut

[Chuckler]

Many thanks for the wisdom shared so far.

if the mother has no passport, then it is a safe assumption that the mother is Thai.

Any child born to at least one Thai parent is automatically a Thai citizen. The Thai birth certificate which your child will get will reflect this, and the child will not need any visas to live in Thailand. IF your child needs to leave Thailand, you should get a Thai passport for the child to depart and return to Thailand on.

Here are some purely hypothetical questions:

What if the mother is from "upcountry" without a formal Thai ID card?

Do you need to show ID at the hospital? Presumably, yes. If so, what happens if the ID the mother shows at the hospital is that of a family member with similar features? :s

Would that mean the birth certifcate would have a different name for the mother? Won't that make getting the Australian passport/citizenship more difficult?

[samran]

Many thanks for the wisdom shared so far.

if the mother has no passport, then it is a safe assumption that the mother is Thai.

Any child born to at least one Thai parent is automatically a Thai citizen. The Thai birth certificate which your child will get will reflect this, and the child will not need any visas to live in Thailand. IF your child needs to leave Thailand, you should get a Thai passport for the child to depart and return to Thailand on.

Here are some purely hypothetical questions:

What if the mother is from "upcountry" without a formal Thai ID card?

Do you need to show ID at the hospital? Presumably, yes. If so, what happens if the ID the mother shows at the hospital is that of a family member with similar features? :s

Would that mean the birth certifcate would have a different name for the mother? Won't that make getting the Australian passport/citizenship more difficult?

hypothecially, no idea. But you can be guaranteed it is a can of worms. Is your wife even on the house register? You'll need all the paperwork a couple of times over for the Birth certificate, registration of birth at the embassy, as well as for the passport. Any thing that doesn't match up and you can be reasonably certain that you'll get tripped up. I mean, afterall, my wife and I do have the correct - and legit - documentation, but even our various embassies caught us out on occasion for not having all our ducks exactly line up in a row.

[Khutan]

Another way if you were in BKK would be to book an interview with the Deputy Consul in the embassy and get his/her view on the matter.

[russfair]

Chuckler. I am in the same situation. want to register our now 9 day old son. GF does not have passport. Did you find an answer to this? I am planning to head to Bkk this week and hope I can get him registered.

Russ

My partner and I are having a baby in Chiang Mai at the end of September.

If one of the parents is NOT an Australian citizen they must provide certified true copy of whole passport including movement stamps for the period including 12 months prior to the birth of the child

My (Thai) partner doesn't have a passport, so I'm not sure what can be done about that, but I'm sure the embassy will advise.