Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fusionbarnone]

My fiancee, who is Korean American (I'm a kiwi) is curious as to what nationality a child born in Korea(namely, to us) would be. I'm especially dumbfounded about such a question, does anyone have a clue? (I'm clueless)
Thanks in advance.

[kelly]

If you find out please let me know I'm in the same situation my fiance is American I'm Irish and the kid is going to be born here in Dec.
Lord I hope he's not going to have to get Korean citizenship!

[peppermint]

You'd have to check with your respective embassies but I believe the child would be eligible for American and Kiwi citizenship. I know children born to Canadians while overseas can apply for Canadian citizenship.

[shakuhachi]

Is the Korean-American also a Korean citizen? If not your child will not be eligible for Korean citizenship.

[rapier]

I propose baby tours to korea in order to ensure your child will have korean citizenship. I'm sure a lot of American mothers will be keen on the idea.

[chiaa]

[yangban]

I believe with respect to citizenship, your kids will be your nationality. It is very difficult to get Korean citizenship, it must be honorary to non-Koreans. While the west has the concept of "If you are born here you are one of us," in Asia, it is "You must have our blood to be one of us." That is, your parents must be XYZ nationality, whether Chinese, or Korean, or Japanese in order to be XYZ nationality. That's why so many Chinese who become American citizens are still in danger of being arrested in China, because the Chinese government still considers them one of their own. I would definitely double-check, but call immigration and your respective embassies. Your child will retain your citizenship and if your spouse is a different citizenship, then your child may have dual-citizenship. But it won't be Korean; again, you must be Korean to have your kids be Korean.

[yangtheman]

[crazylemongirl]

I'm a New Zealand citizen by descent. It's insanely easy to get new zealand citizenship if your parents are a kiwi.

You just need to fill out the paperwork before you kid is 22 (I think they may have raised the age)

You need to fill out the Registration of New Zealand citizenship by descent form. You also need your child's birth certificate, the birth certificate of the new zealand parents and a marriage certificate plus the fee. Then your done and they send you a nice certificate.

[fidel]

My son, whose mother is a korean, got both Korean and New Zealand citizenship. As I understand it, no he won't be granted korean citizenship just because he was born here, unless his mother is on a family register. However like lemongirl said, you can apply for citizenship by descent which is a fairly easy process.

[fusionbarnone]

Thankyou all so very much. The help I've received on this board makes me really proud to be an esl teacher in Korea.

[OiGirl]

If you obtain US citizenship for the child, and were for some reason to live in the US, you can get a document called "Consular Report of Birth Abroad" which you could use for the things where you would normally use a birth certificate (like registering for school.)

[rapier]

I was born and raised in rhodesia. On returning to Zimbabwe in 1990 and afterwards, I found it suddenly extremely difficult, nay impossible to renew my Zimbabwean passport They went out of their way to lose my documents and never got back. After months waiting for my I.D card, I queued for several hours in 40 degree heat to be told it had been lost and I could look for it in several trunks jammed full of lost ID cards if I wanted. A few years later the media reported whites were openly denied citizenship.
I got a british passport by descent, but am a conscientous objector to residing in the country that betrayed Rhodesia to terrorists in the first place.
I'm becoming more Korean every day now....