Baby born during trans-Atlantic flight

[Ryan N]

Baby born during trans-Atlantic flight
January 1, 2009 - 7:57AM

Northwest Airlines Flight 59 picked up an extra passenger on Wednesday when it was en route from the Netherlands to the United States.

Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for Logan International Airport in Boston, said a woman went into labour and gave birth to an apparently healthy girl over the Atlantic during the eight-hour flight from Amsterdam.

Mr Orlandella said a doctor and a paramedic who were on the flight assisted in the birth.

He said the plane landed without incident and the mother and baby were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

He said he did not know the nationality of the mother, but said that for customs purposes the baby was considered a Canadian citizen because she was born over Canada's airspace.

AP

[Gareth Forwood]

He said he did not know the nationality of the mother, but said that for customs purposes the baby was considered a Canadian citizen because she was born over Canada's airspace.


I always thought citizenship would be based on either the nationality of the airline, or the destination/origins...

Lucky the doctor and paramedic were on board

[Ash W]

I always thought citizenship would be based on either the nationality of the airline, or the destination/origins...

Lucky the doctor and paramedic were on board

It is based on the citizenship of the parents. Ie if two aussies have a child on the US, the child is Australian not American.

In this case read carefuly the words in the last sentence.

[Ryan N]

So once they find out the mother's nationality, the baby would not be a Canadian citizen anymore.

[Andrew P]

So once they find out the mother's nationality, the baby would not be a Canadian citizen anymore.

Ugandian, so the child is not a Canadinan citizen

if the same thing happened over Australian airspace the child would NOT get Australian citizenship, unless one parent was an Australian citizen or permanent resident

Banjo

[NickN]

Wonder what they named the kid after his relatively unusual point of entry into the world.... and how he passed customs after landing with no passport :D

[John C]

Incorrect.

It depends on the country.

In the US, a child born in the US of Australian parents is a US citizen, entitled to a US passport and all that it conveys.

Further to that, the child is NOT an Australian citizen and needs to be naturalised upon return to Australia.

as for the child born in flight, it was my understanding that it is a citizen of the country which is being overflown, unless it is in international waters, at which point it reverts to the carriers country of origin - but I am not sure on that.

[Andrew P]

Incorrect.


Further to that, the child is NOT an Australian citizen and needs to be naturalised upon return to Australia.



incorrect, sought off

the child can become an Australian citizen in the USA, after the parents apply for Citizenship by Descent at an Australian Embassy or Consulate

Banjo

[Ryan N]

Looks like the baby may be eligible for Canadian citizenship after all.

Citizenship available for baby born in Canadian airspace
January 2, 2009 - 10:41AM

A Ugandan woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl on a plane from Amsterdam to Boston while flying over Canadian airspace, making the child eligible for Canadian citizenship, US media reported on Thursday.

Little Sasha was born Wednesday at 1400 GMT to the applause of other amazed Northwest Airlines passengers, as their plane flew over Halifax, Canada.

The mother, whose name was withheld by the airline, was assisted in giving birth by two doctors who were passengers on board, The Boston Globe said.

"She (Sasha) looked perfect. She opened her eyes and she was very happy," Dr Natarajan Raman told the daily.

"Even though we didn't have a labour room delivery set up, everything went perfect."

At 2.7 kilograms (6.7 pounds), Sasha was born five minutes after her mother went into labour and about 90 minutes before the Boeing 757 landed in Boston, where child and mother were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital as a precaution.

US officials said that since Sasha was born over Canadian airspace, she should be a Canadian citizen.

Calls to Canada's immigration ministry were not returned.

AFP

[NickN]

So does that mean if this lady happened to claim some sort of asylum on the basis that her child was technically a Canadian citizen she would be more than likely to receive asylum status?

What would happen if a pregnant refugee delivered a child while the plane was over Australia, the child would automatically be an Australian citizen and the refugee mother would still be a citizen of say Iraq. Could they force her to go back and leave the child behind or would they allow her citizenship?

You would think that it would be more sensible that the child automatically becomes a citizen of the parents home nation, whichever that may be.

[Andrew P]

So does that mean if this lady happened to claim some sort of asylum on the basis that her child was technically a Canadian citizen she would be more than likely to receive asylum status?

What would happen if a pregnant refugee delivered a child while the plane was over Australia, the child would automatically be an Australian citizen be.

no see below would not be an Australian citizen

yes Australian have deported non-Australian, notwithstanding thier child is an Australian citizen, rare, but it happens

So does that mean if this lady happened to claim some sort of asylum on the basis that her child was technically a Canadian citizen she would be more than likely to receive asylum status?

the lady was on a plane heading to the USA, (thus with a visa), is very unlikey to be a refugee

[Ash W]

Incorrect.

It depends on the country.

In the US, a child born in the US of Australian parents is a US citizen, entitled to a US passport and all that it conveys.

Further to that, the child is NOT an Australian citizen and needs to be naturalised upon return to Australia.

as for the child born in flight, it was my understanding that it is a citizen of the country which is being overflown, unless it is in international waters, at which point it reverts to the carriers country of origin - but I am not sure on that.

Incorrect...

In the US a baby born to non american parents assumes citizenship only if the parents have the legal right to live in the US. If they have no legal right to live in the US or are diplomats (who technicaly do not live in the host country) then the child cannot become a US citizen.

Also as someone else has pointed out provided at least one parent is an Australian citizen, any child, no matter where they are born can be registered as an Australian Citizen by descent.

[Liz E]

Typical blokes! The two most critical issues pertaining to the incident have been entirely missed;

...everything went perfect...

...Sasha was born five minutes after her mother went into labour...

Everything aside from that is mere static. Oh did anyone catch the aircraft reg?

[David Ramsay]

I have to wonder how someone in her late state of pregnancy was allowed to board the flight.

I thought there were restrictions on air travel after ?? weeks. If the baby was born as healthy as reports suggest, it doesn't appear to have been excessively premature.

[NickN]

..... anyone know how the child would pass immigration as the point of arrival with no passport?

[John C]

I stand corrected

I work with someone who was living in the US on a posting and their child is a US citizen - they had a bunch of stuff to do when they got back to Oz to naturalise their child.

the child is now a dual US/Aust citizen