Baby in Taiwan vs baby in Australia

My wife is Taiwanese and I am Australian. What are the advantages or disadvantages of having your children born in Taiwan or Australia. I am asking in regards to their citizenship status. If the child is born in Australia will it be eligible for citizenship in Taiwan? And vice versa if the child is born in Taiwan. Are there any foreigners and Taiwanese married couples whom would like to share the advantages or disdvantages of giving birth to s child in Taiwan or elsewhere? All sharings greatly appreciated.

Well, if it’s born in Taiwan, then it will become ROC citizen. So is the case if the child is born in Oz, but then there will be lots of red tape to amuse you when trying to get the kid into your wife’s houdehold registry. We are currently suing the MOI over this, but it’ll take another few years before the current idiodic regulations are changed. (The current regulations state that the child of an ROC mother is a ROC citizen, but if born abroad, the registration process will have to be done abroad)

Check the sex of the child before birth. It it’s a boy you might want him to be born in Oz in order to avoid the 18 month military service.

Wasn’t there a discussion about this recently? I thought the conclusion reached was as long as your son has Taiwanese citizenship, then the place of birth didn’t matter.

I’m also interested in this matter because I will more than likely become a father in the next few years.

If they don’t register him as a citizen anywhere, then they can’t send him the draft papers. Simple.

Visit the ParentPages.net Family Forum to connect with other parents who are having/have had babies in Taiwan as well as those who have opted to go home for a few months for birth, then return.

Peter, same boat as me mate. My wife has 3 more months left! My research tells me this.

If my child is born here, he/she will receive Taiwanese citizenship. I then need to go out to the Aussie Embassy thing and register the child in order to get the Aussie citizenship. I’ve enclose the documents you’ll need below.

Born in Australia however, he’ll just get his Aussie paperwork. That’s it, and an ARC when he wants to come here.

Now although two of these are for registering births for Aussies in Japan, I presume these are standard as far as the Aussie government is concerned ;

australia.or.jp/english/seif … tizenship/
australia.or.jp/english/seif … 70czsd.pdf
passports.gov.au/new/applying_u18.html

By the way, you shouldn’t travel by plane in your last 3 months of pregnancy, so if you decide to head back to Aus, plan it.

Cheers Amos.

I am not sure about all the logistics of it, but I am sure if your wife maintains her citizenship here, and has an current Household Registration, the baby should be able to get citizenship.

Actually, I would be more concerned about where you will deliver the baby with the current situation. I am currently over 20 weeks pregnant and we are considering returning to the USA to have the baby.

Anyway, best of luck!

[quote=“crbkstiles”]I am not sure about all the logistics of it, but I am sure if your wife maintains her citizenship here, and has an current Household Registration, the baby should be able to get citizenship.
[/quote]

Correct. The nationality law is very clear, the child of an ROC citizen is an ROC citizen. However, if the baby is born abroad you have to apply abroad - even if the child later resides in Taiwan.

I know this because I am suing (with the help of a Mr. Hartzell) in order to make it possible to apply for the citizenship here. No-one have so far contested that my girls are ROC citizens.

Thanks, Mr. He. I am a dual national, and since we are considering bailing out of here, that’s useful information. However, getting my child ROC citizenship at this point is the least of my worries.

I am guessing we just have to go to the TECO office in whatever country we are from? But I am wondering how ROC nationals get a hold of a recent copy of their household registration without getting it before they leave?

They ask their family to help them getting the documents.

You could wait and see what the outcome of our trial would be. It’ll be a few years, though, but I’m in it for the long haul anyway.

The only advantage to having a child born in Australia is the unlikelyhood that the hospital will have a SARS outbreak.

Otherwise citizenship is not an issue. However, if your child were to be a son and you have something against National Service you might consider having the child in Australia and never activating Taiwan citizenship.

I think there’s a way around that too, but don’t take my word for it.

Thanks all for sharing. I think my main concerns are in regards to National Military Service if my child happens to be a son. The other, being travel as I now have two families and will need to fly back and forth from Taiwan - Sydney. I see myself and my family belonging to two countries as in the future we will be commuting between the two. But I’m not to sure how these countries will recognize our children and their status as residents or citizens. Just trying to make the best choices for them, thus saving them any difficulties in the unforseen future. I’m not a parent yet, so maybe I’m just being over causious.
I do hope others will continue to share their stories, which will provide for me a better informed choice in choosing to have the child in taiwan or not. Thanks all.
And, Good luck Mr. He, wishing you the best!

Both my boys are born in Taiwan, and they have Taiwanese and my nationality.
When they are 18, they have to decide which nationality to keep. Both countries have mandatory military service, even if my country probably have the easier version.
At 18 they are old enough to choose by themself what they want to do and where they want to live.

Take both, and renounce one when it is time.

HOTTALA!!

[quote=“X3M”]Both my boys are born in Taiwan, and they have Taiwanese and my nationality.
When they are 18, they have to decide which nationality to keep. Both countries have mandatory military service, even if my country probably have the easier version.
At 18 they are old enough to choose by themself what they want to do and where they want to live.

Take both, and renounce one when it is time.

HOTTALA!![/quote]

Not so fast - somewhere in the legal matters section you will find info telling you that you can’t renounce Taiwanese citizenship until after military service.

[quote=“Mr He”][quote=“X3M”]Both my boys are born in Taiwan, and they have Taiwanese and my nationality.
When they are 18, they have to decide which nationality to keep. Both countries have mandatory military service, even if my country probably have the easier version.
At 18 they are old enough to choose by themself what they want to do and where they want to live.

Take both, and renounce one when it is time.

HOTTALA!![/quote]

Not so fast - somewhere in the legal matters section you will find info telling you that you can’t renounce Taiwanese citizenship until after military service.[/quote]

:blush: :blush:
Well, then we have to find another solution, because my homecountry does not allow for dual citizenship after 18.
On the other hand, maybe the military service here will be more human in 10 years or so… :unamused:

[quote=“X3M”][quote=“Mr He”][quote=“X3M”]Both my boys are born in Taiwan, and they have Taiwanese and my nationality.
When they are 18, they have to decide which nationality to keep. Both countries have mandatory military service, even if my country probably have the easier version.
At 18 they are old enough to choose by themself what they want to do and where they want to live.

Take both, and renounce one when it is time.

HOTTALA!![/quote]

Not so fast - somewhere in the legal matters section you will find info telling you that you can’t renounce Taiwanese citizenship until after military service.[/quote]

:blush: :blush:
Well, then we have to find another solution, because my homecountry does not allow for dual citizenship after 18.
On the other hand, maybe the military service here will be more human in 10 years or so… :unamused:[/quote]

Another good way to get around it is for your kids to go live abroad and not come back before… 40?

I know of one foreigner, who didn’t get his Taiwan-born son registered here for that very reason.

But well, anything Poagao can do, your boys can do as well :smiling_imp:

My son is 4 and has never got Taiwan citizenship. When he was born in Taichung we were told that only kids of “mixed” marriages where the father was Taiwanese could get Taiwan citizenship . If the Mum was Taiwanese then he/she took the citizenship of the foreign father. So we registered him with the UK authorities here, got him a passport and an ARC. No idea of his obligations under military service but I don’t see us staying here for another 14 years so it is moot for me.

I believe the law has changed since then. Check out this thread, and in particular:

So, if you wanted, you could apply for ROC citizenship for your son.

This sounds all very interesting, but does anybody have a clue what the situation is like, if the father is Taiwanese and the mother a foreigner. What nationality would the child be then?