₦airaland Forum

Sparkle1515:
What do you mean Canada doesn’t encourage birth tourism..pls elucidate cos I have a visa for birthing purposes already ..my first was USA,second Canada and now third Canada all for the purpose of birthing clearly stated

Hello @Sparkle1515, please can you assist with responses to the following questions?

1) When did you get your visa?
2) Did you state child birth alone, and not vacation and child birth or vacation and medical or medical only?
3) Were there extra considerations to your visa application for child birth i.e. a medical report/letter from your Gyn in Nigeria probably stating why you had to travel i.e. multiple births for more than 2 babies, high-risk pregnancy etc.

Please share, apologies if you have already shared, a detailed account of your visa application from start to finish for the benefit of this thread. Many thanks.

Hotstepper:
Every month, the govt pays the parents of kids 18 yrs nd under what is called Child Benefit for the kids.

Thanks @Hotstepper for the clarification.

maternal:
It's true. Money is given to your child along with many other benefits. But I think the mother or parent(s) now has to be living in Canada. I doubt they'd be sending her dollars while in naija. I think they've changed that rule. As for the son, unless he's at least a PR and living in Canada, I can't see the gov't giving him money. Why would they ?

Her son is a PR.

Hotstepper:
He is just a sad human being period. Is he a Nigerian?
Yes, hospitals are funded by the govt but is that not why international patients pay for their own services themselves? Because its funded by the govt,thats why the govt stopped issuing Health Card to kids born by international patients at birth so they wont take advantage of those system until hey r old enough to live in the contry nd actually pay tax.

I was discussing with my friend who is a PR holder in Canada this weekend and she said she just learnt that the Canadian Government pays its citizens that are children $650 CAD monthly and that she was told of a Nigerian Lady (who gave birth to triplet and returned to Nigeria) that receives $1950 CAD monthly for her triplets from the Canadian Government. My friend confirmed that the Canadian Government pays her son who is not a Canadian citizen some money every month.

@Hotstepper, please is this accurate i.e. that Canadian Government pays its citizens that are children certain sums every month? Because this could be one of the immediate benefits that the VO was frowning at and referring to as an abuse of the system.

Thanks.

@maternal, I'm not a regular here and the post sharing my experience was my first post ever on Nairaland. There are always three sides to a story but I have nothing to gain from lying.

Like I said the interview was good for me and gave me closure so I have moved on and have no interest whatsoever in appealing. Luckily I have a valid U.S visa so I'll have my baby in U.S.

But I think it is insincere to insist on full disclosure regarding having your baby in Canada and then meet such prejudice. At least, U.S visa application process is not this prejudiced, and actually recognizes /permits birth tourism in their visa application process.

Please anyone who has disclosed childbirth solely (without any medical/health issue) as the reason for the visa application and received an approval should please share their experience.

Hotstepper:
I just believe it alll depends on the officer . If u still have ur US visa, head there. if I may ask, why did u decide to come to Canada this time?

I decided on Canada because I got the U.S visa for vacation in March and found out I was pregnant at the end of June and based on recent stories/trend from the thread on giving birth in U.S, using it for birthing purpose without first travelling for vacation might pose a problem during renewal. So I decided let me try Canada and disclose upfront.

Anyways, I'm heading back to U.S, I will send the notification of change of intent.

hajidel:
If i were you I would reapply ASAP and write a strongly worded letter stating the facts together with the application and of course your US history may serve adversely but include the paid bills and every other documentation proving all was settled. I know its time consuming but sometimes when things as biased as this occurs to an honest applicant you don't let it rest like that, follow through then they may reconsider their biased views and besides no one officer is allowed to review your application twice to minimize prejudice.

I attached the receipts, doctor and hospital contacts and all documentation regarding my birth experience in US when submitting my online application, so I actually thought the visa officer was seeking clarification on why Canada and not US again when I have a valid visa, hence the interview. However, there was no discussion about this during the interview.

@badoo, I think the problem is jus soli and not medical tourism per se. His major problem was that the baby will immediately be entitled to the privileges of Citizens upon birth. Other medical tourism (excluding child birth) do not confer this privilege so then they are fine with you using the hospital (funded by the government) and depriving a Canadian of that service.

@maternal, I had N6+ million in my account, and N7+ million in my pension account, facts he could have easily verified by contacting my bank and PFA if financial asset was truly an issue. Like I stated, he was clear that Canadians do not like jus soli and therefore he was going to refuse my application.

@hajidel, yes he was clearly biased and prejudiced, and unfortunately the review of visa applications are highly subjective to the views (liberal or conservative) of the visa officers reviewing them. That’s why an applicant can apply with the same facts and documents, and be refused initially by one visa officer and subsequently granted by another visa officer.

Has anyone disclosed childbirth solely (without any medical/health issue) as the reason for the visa application and received an approval?

hajidel:
This is ridiculous to say the least. I feel really bad for you as this must have been very tough.

What I would like to point out as well is having an interview is not necessarily a bad thing, for me it is actually a blessing in disguise and its better than being outrightly denied after doing online application.

There was no doubt about the purpose of my trip and the Visa Officer wasn't open minded so there was no convincing him. He was fixated on his position that Canadians do not like jus soli. So me telling him the history of Canada and how Canadians are originally immigrants (which he already knows), as well responding that Canadians also have their babies outside Canada and would continue to do so would have ended the interview faster, and with the refusal letter.

Birthright tourism is currently an issue for the 2019 elections in Canada.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4410446/conservative-convention-birth-tourism-canada/

I forgot to add, he also said that everytime I spend with the doctor and time I spend at the Hospital, a Canadian has to be denied for me to have that service/time.

Anyways, the interview was good for me because it granted me the opportunity to hear directly from the Visa Officer and gave me closure in that regard. If I had just received a denial (without the interview) based on the other flimsy excuses, I probably would have tried to reapply with additional funds and try to establish more home ties.

No, he is a white Canadian.

https://www.quora.com/Is-birth-tourism-legal-in-Canada-Can-I-go-and-have-my-baby-in-Canada-legally

The position of Dinesh Malik, Gongkai Chen and Darly Baker (in the article from the link I posted above) were exactly the views of the Visa officer. He was fixated on his position that I knew that there was nothing I could say to convince him otherwise.

Hello Everyone.

So I have decided to share. I did an online application in August 2018, did my biometrics early September. I had read the full seventy-something pages and seen where border patrol officers had thanked the ladies for their honesty after disclosing they were pregnant so in my cover letter (LOE) I clearly stated that I wanted the visa for the purpose of child birth.

I have a good job, have sufficient funds in my account, pension account and other investments which I clearly demonstrated through my LOE. I am a lawyer so writing a detailed explanation letter (with accompanying supporting evidence) was not a problem for me. I also have good travel history and have valid U.S and U.K visas. I got the U.S visa for vacation purposes so I felt let me apply for a Canadian visa instead, fully disclosing my intentions.

I got an interview invitation (which rarely occurs for Canada visa applications) and wasn't too worried as I thought they required some clarification regarding my application. So I researched Nairaland again for Canada interview transcripts. The only one remotely close to this was the guy and his wife who applied for a Canadian visa after they were denied U.S visa (after a birthing trip) and were called on the phone, and the guy disclosed that they will also use the visa for child birth.

So I attended the interview (using questions from U.S transcripts for child birth such as why Canada? budget for the birth? etc.). We were about 3 people waiting at their Anifowoshe Office; an elderly couple (I don't know what they came for), a middle aged man who came to retrieve his passport to collect his U.K visa, and myself. I was given an appointment time but I was kept waiting for more than 1hr:30 mins.

Finally, the visa officer had my time and began his interview. He told me that he will decide the application there and then based on the documents I had submitted and the interview. After asking preliminary questions like how many kids do you have etc., he asked why do you want to travel to Canada? A little perplexed, I responded that I had clearly indicated this in the first paragraph of my LOE, that I wanted to travel to have my baby in Canada. Then he asked, how do you think the Canadians feel about this? I responded that I know that there are some concerns in some quarters about citizenship by birth, but generally the Canadians are all inclusive. Then he responded "No, the Canadians do not like it. You come and have a baby and immediately the baby gets all the privilege of citizenship. I tried to explain that I was being honest and fully disclosing my intention upfront....he interjected "so we should disregard the feelings of the Canadians because of that". Anyways he want on about how it is an abuse of the system and disregard of immigration laws. I clarified that my friend (who had sent a letter of invitation) and my gynaecologist had spoken to doctors in Canada who were willing to accept an international patient, and that I did not intend to abuse the system and will pay all my bills for the birth (as I did when I had my daughter in US). He responded that whether there were doctors willing to accept international patients and regardless of if I pay all my bills, I will still be using government's assistance because all hospitals, unlike those in the US, are funded by the government. He reiterated that Canadians do not like birthright citizenship and that he was going to deny my application and a refusal letter will be handed over to me.

So I waited at the reception for the letter and it stated that I was denied because I may not come back due to financial assets, purpose of travel etc. but he had already clearly stated the reason for the denial. Lol.

So perharps when applying, you may want to state medical tourism instead of child birth outrightly because according to the Visa Officer, Canadians do not like jus soli.