My wife came here on a CR1 visa or spouse visa. She has her greencard and it has been 2 years that she is in the US. Now she is 7 months pregnant and she wants to travel back home to Afghanistan. I am the US citizen I cant go she is going with my 10month old son and I am pretty sure the baby will be born there in that country, Can someone tell me if the baby is born there will she be able to come back with her easily. What are the rules of a my son born there. Will it give her problems to come back her later. thanks

Read this- http://travel.state.gov/family/family_issu.../birth_593.html

Your son will (more or less) automatically be a U.S. citizen even if born abroad, if one of the parents is a U.S. citizen.

He can even run for President some day.

Will the airlines allow her to fly at the 7mos pregnancy stage?

Who Can Fly
There are some restrictions as to just who should and should not travel the skies when they are pregnant. Generally, women who are having a healthy, normal pregnancy are free to come and go as they please. However, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends women don’t fly after their 36th week of pregnancy.

Airlines have their own flight restrictions for pregnant women, which can vary according to whether you are flying domestically or internationally and which airline you will be flying. Some airlines won’t allow you to travel for 30 days before your due date, while others won’t let you on board if your due date is less than seven days away. Be sure to ask the ticket agent when you book your ticket just what their restrictions are since they probably won’t mention it otherwise. And don’t forget to consider how close your due date will be when you come back.

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Don't you have to be born on US soil? Although this is a bit beside the point...

My son/daughter was born overseas. Can he/she become a US citizen?

In many/most cases, a child born outside the US to a US citizen or citizens is a US citizen by birth (and, in the opinions of most legal scholars, qualifies as a "natural born" citizen eligible to become President or Vice-President). The question, in such cases, is not whether the child can "become" a US citizen, but rather how the parents can go about documenting the fact of the child's citizenship.

The law on US citizenship for children born outside the US depends on when the child was born, whether one or both parents are US citizens, and how long each parent lived in the US prior (not necessarily immediately prior) to the child's birth. A table describing US law on this subject during the 20th century (for children born in wedlock) can be found on the Web site of Buffalo immigration lawyer Joe Grasmick. Check with a US consulate for an exact interpretation of the rules with regard to a specific situation; however, here's a summary of the rules as they pertain to children born now or in the recent past.

For children born abroad since 14 November 1986 to a married couple consisting of two US citizens, at least one of the parents must have "had a residence" in the US at some time in his or her life, prior to the child's birth. There is no minimum amount of time, in this case, during which an American parent must have "had a residence" in the US -- though the longer that period of time was, the easier it may be to convince US officials that the time represented a genuine period of "residence" in the US, and not simply a short vacation trip.

For children born abroad since 14 November 1986 to a married couple consisting of one US citizen and one non-citizen, the American parent must have been "physically present" in the US for a total of at least five years prior to the birth of the child. Further, at least two years out of this five-year period must have been after the parent reached age 14 (e.g., no good if you lived in the US from birth till age five, then left the country never to return). From 24 December 1952 to 14 November 1986, the minimum requirement was ten years (five years of which had to have been after the parent's 14th birthday).

The time spent in the US need not have been immediately prior to the child's birth, and it is possible to combine multiple separate periods of physical presence in the US to reach the required figures. Additionally, time spent in US territories or possessions can be counted -- as can time spent abroad in the US military, in US government employment, or as a dependent spouse or child of someone posted abroad under such circumstances.

These rules are designed to prevent the proliferation of generation after generation of "Americans" who might otherwise be citizens by descent without ever having set foot in the US.

Different rules apply to a child born out of wedlock outside the US. If the mother of an "illegitimate" child is a US citizen, her foreign-born child is a US citizen by birth if she had ever spent at least one year's worth of continuous literal, physical presence in the US. If the father is a US citizen (and the mother is not), the child is a US citizen only if the father's paternity is formally established and if the father has agreed to support the child. (This more stringent requirement for an American father to pass along US citizenship to a foreign-born illegitimate child may seem discriminatory, but it was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 2001 case, Nguyen v. INS.)

An American who has a child born outside the US should contact the nearest US embassy or consulate as soon as possible, to request an application for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad. This form needs to be filled out by both parents and returned with payment (check with the consulate in advance to be sure what the current fee is and what forms of payment will be accepted), as well as supporting documents including parents' birth certificates, marriage certificate, passports, and the child's own birth certificate. For the supporting documents to be returned, you must enclose sufficient local postage for registered mail (ask the consulate for the required amount), or else bring everything in person to the consulate (in which case they will prepare the certificate while you wait; expect the process to take about an hour).

Note, once again, that a child born abroad under these circumstances is a US citizen by birth (in addition to possibly being a citizen of the country of birth). The "consular report of birth abroad" is not a bestowal of US citizenship, but simply an acknowledgment of same.

Even if a child born outside the US to an American parent or parents does not qualify for US citizenship at birth, the child can frequently become a US citizen fairly easily -- especially if the family moves to the US -- on account of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. This may be good enough as having been born a citizen for most (though not all) purposes.


Is a child born outside the US to American parents legally eligible to become President?

Most likely yes.

The US Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Subsection 4) says: "No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States."

The first Congress enacted a citizenship law which stated that "the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens". [Act of Mar. 26, 1790, ch. 3, 1 Stat. 104.] This strongly suggests that the phrase was understood by the framers of the Constitution to refer to citizenship by birth.

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If you're a naturalized not a borned citizen, you may not run for President. You may run for any other office.

am I the only one wondering why she can't wait until after she gives birth and hubby can travel with her to help with the 10 month old?

I only ask this because my best friend traveled to my wedding by herself with a 3 month old, and it was rough. Can't imagine what it would be like on an overseas flight, 7 months pregnant and taking care of a 10 month old.

No, you have be a "natural born citizen" (i.e. a citizen by birth.)

John McCain will be running for Prez in 2008 and he wasn't born in the U.S.


A child born abroad to U.S. citizen parents is a natural born citizen, not a naturalized one.

Gulp! That escaped me.. poor woman, been pregnant for (presumably)14 of the last 17 months...yikes..

Somewhat controversial, and first tried (unsuccessfully) by George Romney in 1972.

('course McCain has the advantage of there NOT being a sitting, eligible-to-run, wanting-to-run president in place--which slaughtered Romney in Republican primary).

I really think you guys should consider the posibility of NOT GOING until your baby is borned!! but that is just my opinion

Is there a reason why your wife cannot wait? I hope you do not mean she wants to give birth in Afghanistan versus the USA.

Of course -- Afghanistan is home to world-class healthcare and medical facilities.
Look what it's done for Bin Laden

And of course they have one of the lowest infant mortalitiy rates in the world!

Afghanistan is second only to Angola:

Angola................. 187.49 deaths / 1,000 births
Afghanistan..........163.07 deaths / 1,000 births
...
U.S.A......................6.50 deaths / 1,000 births

Could that partly be due to reporting (meaning that Afghanistan could potentially actually be WORSE than Angola)?

I don't know.... do you think reporting is better in Angola?

Well, women are less secluded in Angola than in (even post-2001, let alone Taliban-regime) Afghanistan.