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Having a baby in Colombia


#1  2012-05-18 06:14:27

masterita
Active member
masterita
From: Manizales
Registered: 2011-10-02
Posts: 29

Having a baby in Colombia

Hello fellow Expats!  I am a US Citizen and my wife is Colombian.  We are expecting our first child together in July.  I have already reviewed all of the US Embassy info and paperwork required and it all seems very easy and straight forward.  HOWEVER, I have learned that not many things are ever very easy and straight forward in Colombia.  So I was hoping that someone might be able to let me know about any pass experience (personal or 3rd person) of having a child in Colombia and apply for US Citizenship and hopefully Colombian citizenship as well (duel citizenship). 

Thanks,
Michael




 
 
 

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#2  2012-05-18 15:16:18

dieselgirl
Active member
dieselgirl
From: Bogota
Registered: 2010-12-28
Posts: 70

Re: Having a baby in Colombia

Hi 

my Canadian friend and her British  husband  had a baby here in Bogota last december
and I remember her having a hard time tying to get her child a Cadanian citizenship. well at the end was much easier to get a Britsh citizenship for her baby. here in Colombia they ask for some paperwork that have to be done first where the parents come from in your case US!
AND you both have to prove that you both are the biologic parents
The doctor who treats your wife have to testify in a notary and declare that you are the parents of the child.

it may change taking in consideration that your wife is Colombia in case she don't have the American Citizenship
in my opinion the best way and easy is to have your child in the state
hope all is good
and congratulation to both of you




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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#3  2012-05-18 17:06:14

Julieth
New member
From: Medellin
Registered: 2011-06-01
Posts: 2

Re: Having a baby in Colombia

Hello Michael,

I am a Colombian with a Canadian husband we had our daughter in Ecuador in 2009, We wanted her to have the 3 citizenship so did all the process as soon She got born. The Colombian embassy only ask for few documents such as the Ecuadorian birth certificate that shows we are both her parents and we had her Colombian citizenship in about an hour!, in your case because the baby is getting born in here by the time your wife and baby are leaving the hospital they should give you a document that you need to bring to the registraduria and there should be no problem for you to register your child.

In the Canadian embassy they did ask for different documents that only took a bit of our time but once we had everything only needed to wait for her citizenship which took couple months with no complications.

It is always stressful having to do all this documents but it you fill all the forms correctly there should be no reason for you to have any inconvenience.

When is the baby getting born? Please let us know how everything goes wink

Congratulations on your baby!

Julieth

Last edited by Julieth (2012-05-18 17:10:36)




 
 
 

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#4  2012-05-19 19:02:52

HeatherT
New member
From: Bogota
Registered: 2010-04-20
Posts: 2

Re: Having a baby in Colombia

Hi Michael,

My husband and I are both U.S. citizens and we just had a son in April.  Everyone born in Colombia is a Colombian citizen, so the birth certificate itself is proof of citizenship.  Once you pay the bill at the hospital, they will give you the birth certificate, which counts as proof of Colombian citizenship.  Then you go to the Embassy and get the CRBA (consular report of birth abroad), and once you have that you can apply for the baby's American passport.

One thing to keep in mind is that whenever your child exits the country (if you go to visit U.S. relatives, for instance), he will have to exit on his Colombian passport.  He can't use his American passport to exit Colombia.  So make sure you actually get the Colombian passport for him before you make any travel plans.

Best wishes,

Heather




 
 
 

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#5  2012-06-05 05:47:24

masterita
Active member
masterita
From: Manizales
Registered: 2011-10-02
Posts: 29

Re: Having a baby in Colombia

Thank you all for the great replies and sorry for my delayed reply.  I've been busy with work and had some computer problems. 

All the paperwork seems pretty straight forward and I am sure the process should be fairly painless. Accept for the having to travel back and forth to the interview with my infant child. 

My son, Martin, is due the first week of July.  We decided to have him here in Colombia for convenience (since we live here) and financially it makes much more sense.  In the states it was costing us an estimated $22K.  Here, out of pocket it is costing us under $2K USD. We decided not to go through our insurance here because we wanted to select our own doctor and hospital. 

Heather, thanks for the heads up on the travel and passports situation.  We will want to head back to the states for x-mas to introduce Martin to his new family.  So we have about 5 months to get both of his passports ready to make it much easier to get through customs (on both sides).   

I will certainly re-post to let everyone know how it goes.  Thanks again!

Michael




 
 
 

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#6  2012-07-06 01:28:09

masterita
Active member
masterita
From: Manizales
Registered: 2011-10-02
Posts: 29

Re: Having a baby in Colombia

Just a quick update.  Martin was born a healthy 6 lbs 2 ounces and with more hair on his head than me.  We chose Hospital de Caldas, in Manizales, which I think is a nice and decently equipped hospital for this sized city. It was also out of our insurance network so we had to pay totally out of pocket, but it was well worth it.  We paid for the full service / private treatment.  Total cost was 1.8 mil pesos (about $950 USD).  The hospital staff was very friendly, professional and very helpful.  Some even spoke a little English. Our private doctor cost us 1 mil pesos, which again was well worth it as he was great (he speaks English as well). 

We just go our "long form" birth certificate for us to submit with the rest of the paperwork. So once I have more news on the US Embassy and citizenship, I will certainly make a new post.

Thank you again everyone for your help and if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

Cheers,
Michael




 
 
 

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#7  2012-07-06 02:44:44

dieselgirl
Active member
dieselgirl
From: Bogota
Registered: 2010-12-28
Posts: 70

Re: Having a baby in Colombia

Congratulations to both of you.




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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