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Q: A few questions for the dads
Or moms.
Having a kid. Still have time but other than the hospital and cultural issues which i feel i have a good handle on there are a few things im not sure of and Google wont due.
Getting " permission" from the family planning department.
What is the process, what do I need and how early should I go??
Im curious about the naming of the kid. We want an English name only. No chinese name. Now im assuming that this is not doable and you must use Chinese characters. Can this be confirmed????
If thats the case we will just use Chinese characters to make a translation of the English name. Like if we named him Mortimer he would be 某体某 ～mou ti mou soley for chinese documents. *note* My wife hates this name and said theres no way in hell. *note 2* My wife sucks. But does this mean that all kids with a foreigner dad here use the mothers family name officially?? Arent they serious about using the dads family name here??? And how does that work when the kid eventually goes back to Canada?? It just uses the Moms family name for life?? I dont really care but im curious.
Thanks in advance!!
9 years 6 weeks ago in Family & Kids - China
To get the baby book you need to get a " not father of a child in China" certificate. Normally, you go for the baby book "permission" after she is pregnant. The baby book only lasts a set period of time, and while it's valid you will get regular visits from the local population police. I did not have any problems with this because the MIL worked in that department. Any problems with the "no child in china" stuff, give me a shout and I might be able to help.
Our child has her mum's family name. She has a Chinese first name too, but we use her English name all time.
If you register your kid as Chinese she will get Chinese health care cheap. Something like 20 RMB for inoculations. If you register him/ her as Canadian you will get nowt except a request to go get an exit visa for him/ her. Then you need go get a passport and apply for a visa.
You should be able to register the birth with the Canadian consulate, even if you are not taking Canadian nationality at the time. I done that with my daughter with the UK consulate. She is registered as Chinese, but at any time she can go to the consulate and claim UK citizenship.
The Chinese birth certificate does need to be in Chinese characters. That becomes their identity. So any foreign registration will need to be in the same name.
Have fun making your baby 
.
mike695ca:
Thanks for the info man! And i may call on you for this certificate as its the first i have heard of it. The fun part is over. Now its the puking part. 6 months to go. And to answer your previous post I also hope it gets her DNA. The world doesnt need two Mikes running amok. :)
ScotsAlan:
I didn't actually know about the certificate until I saw it on here. As I said, my MIL worked in that department, so all this was done for me without me knowing about it. I think it was the other dude in Shenzhen (Ironman?) who talked about it first.
But after asking the wife about it, she said, "Yeah, you had one"
ScotsAlan:
Found it:
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/whats-process-having-baby-china
Yup, Ironman is the guy you want. All my documentation was "done" for me
mike695ca:
Thanks for the link but wait what?? Visits from the population police??? Plural?? For what??
ScotsAlan:
The population police are the one child enforcement officers. They have uniforms similar to the police, but light brown shirts I think.
Once you have your baby book, they visit your home to ask if your wife is pregnant yet. I think they also do a bit of snooping, looking for evidence of a prior child etc. Their job is basically to make sure you are who you are and you live where you say you live. They check your passport the first time, then don't bother after that.
I am fairly certain it's to make sure you are not some dude with a mistress trying to start another family without paying the fine. They tend to visit when you are expected to be at home.
They are fine. I still say hello to the officers when I see them in the area. They still pop in sometimes to see our daughter and say hello. They might also put a little electronic tag on your front door. But that might just be a GZ thing. I am still trying to work out what that tag is.
Ah yes. I remember one time they turned up. They asked the wife if we had a fire extinguisher. Hey of course we do (I made a point of buying one). "Ahh" , they said (obviously surprised), "Get another one. You need two in an apartment this size"
Sorry, I am rambling. Just so happy for you fella. A baby mike. Ha ha.
China changes completely when you have a child here. Especially if you decide on Chinese nationality for the child. It becomes your home. The home of your child. Your vision of the country somehow changes. It is no longer the enemy.
Tomorrow we are off to DG for a mixed baby birthday party. Should be fun because the dad is Irish. Drinks will be consumed.
By the way, if you are undecided, I highly recommend you go for Chinese citizen ship for the wee one. I get shot down in flames for this all the time, but my reasoning is simple.
If you register your child as Chinese, it's easy to change it later on to become Canadian. The reverse is difficult. We decided our daughter would be Chinese. Because once Chinese, always Chinese. She can change and be British, but she can change back to be Chinese. Because she is Chinese first.
If she was registered as British, she would always be British. An outsider in her mother's country. Register as a foreigner, always a foreigner. Never Chinese.
RiriRiri:
Surprisingly you make a good point.
I'm still not choosing Chinese nationality, but good point.
mike695ca:
Not worried about these dudes coming but still wierd. Oh well. Yeah it will be Chinese at birth. I was just planning on telling the consulate and hoping I could change its nationality later. Not for insurance reasons or schooling as we planned and prepared for internationals anyways but just cause you cant go back. Dont need to worry about passport and visa stuff. It can always change the passport later.
To get the baby book you need to get a " not father of a child in China" certificate. Normally, you go for the baby book "permission" after she is pregnant. The baby book only lasts a set period of time, and while it's valid you will get regular visits from the local population police. I did not have any problems with this because the MIL worked in that department. Any problems with the "no child in china" stuff, give me a shout and I might be able to help.
Our child has her mum's family name. She has a Chinese first name too, but we use her English name all time.
If you register your kid as Chinese she will get Chinese health care cheap. Something like 20 RMB for inoculations. If you register him/ her as Canadian you will get nowt except a request to go get an exit visa for him/ her. Then you need go get a passport and apply for a visa.
You should be able to register the birth with the Canadian consulate, even if you are not taking Canadian nationality at the time. I done that with my daughter with the UK consulate. She is registered as Chinese, but at any time she can go to the consulate and claim UK citizenship.
The Chinese birth certificate does need to be in Chinese characters. That becomes their identity. So any foreign registration will need to be in the same name.
Have fun making your baby .
mike695ca:
Thanks for the info man! And i may call on you for this certificate as its the first i have heard of it. The fun part is over. Now its the puking part. 6 months to go. And to answer your previous post I also hope it gets her DNA. The world doesnt need two Mikes running amok. :)
ScotsAlan:
I didn't actually know about the certificate until I saw it on here. As I said, my MIL worked in that department, so all this was done for me without me knowing about it. I think it was the other dude in Shenzhen (Ironman?) who talked about it first.
But after asking the wife about it, she said, "Yeah, you had one"
ScotsAlan:
Found it:
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/whats-process-having-baby-china
Yup, Ironman is the guy you want. All my documentation was "done" for me
mike695ca:
Thanks for the link but wait what?? Visits from the population police??? Plural?? For what??
ScotsAlan:
The population police are the one child enforcement officers. They have uniforms similar to the police, but light brown shirts I think.
Once you have your baby book, they visit your home to ask if your wife is pregnant yet. I think they also do a bit of snooping, looking for evidence of a prior child etc. Their job is basically to make sure you are who you are and you live where you say you live. They check your passport the first time, then don't bother after that.
I am fairly certain it's to make sure you are not some dude with a mistress trying to start another family without paying the fine. They tend to visit when you are expected to be at home.
They are fine. I still say hello to the officers when I see them in the area. They still pop in sometimes to see our daughter and say hello. They might also put a little electronic tag on your front door. But that might just be a GZ thing. I am still trying to work out what that tag is.
Ah yes. I remember one time they turned up. They asked the wife if we had a fire extinguisher. Hey of course we do (I made a point of buying one). "Ahh" , they said (obviously surprised), "Get another one. You need two in an apartment this size"
Sorry, I am rambling. Just so happy for you fella. A baby mike. Ha ha.
China changes completely when you have a child here. Especially if you decide on Chinese nationality for the child. It becomes your home. The home of your child. Your vision of the country somehow changes. It is no longer the enemy.
Tomorrow we are off to DG for a mixed baby birthday party. Should be fun because the dad is Irish. Drinks will be consumed.
By the way, if you are undecided, I highly recommend you go for Chinese citizen ship for the wee one. I get shot down in flames for this all the time, but my reasoning is simple.
If you register your child as Chinese, it's easy to change it later on to become Canadian. The reverse is difficult. We decided our daughter would be Chinese. Because once Chinese, always Chinese. She can change and be British, but she can change back to be Chinese. Because she is Chinese first.
If she was registered as British, she would always be British. An outsider in her mother's country. Register as a foreigner, always a foreigner. Never Chinese.
RiriRiri:
Surprisingly you make a good point.
I'm still not choosing Chinese nationality, but good point.
mike695ca:
Not worried about these dudes coming but still wierd. Oh well. Yeah it will be Chinese at birth. I was just planning on telling the consulate and hoping I could change its nationality later. Not for insurance reasons or schooling as we planned and prepared for internationals anyways but just cause you cant go back. Dont need to worry about passport and visa stuff. It can always change the passport later.
bring all your papers to register at least 3 month before the birth, usually 2 trips, there is always something else they want even if you have everything to agravate people, thats a bereaucrats job after all. i gave the child the wifes name and there chinese choices on the name and named the child completely different on the us passport with a legal name change, since this is technically not allowed, never use the foreign passport in china, fly the baby under the chinese passport to thailand or korea and then fly under the foreign passport to your home, i got the american social security number for taxes and passport at the embassy.
not sure if this is avalilable at canadian embassy, but i set up a college fund for my daughter and i had to have a us social security number for the account, showing me as the guardian, so i had to get the number at the embassy, and now can claim another dependent for my own taxes.
mike695ca:
I always wondered about this as I have met many that do this. If you fly to thailand then on to home. When you go to the exit customs in Thailand and they see the passport arent they going to question the lack of entry stamps on the passport?? Wouldnt this also work from HK? Why Thailand? Korea makes sense depending on where you are in China.
ambivalentmace:
the record of your foreign passport would eventually be under the review of files by the prc given the take over of hong kong and the records could be checked in the future to see the child has 2 passports instead of one. most asian countries would not divulge information to the bully china, this may change in the future. i would not take the chance on hong kong.
i usually get cheaper flights through thailand to the west than going through korea.
You should first and foremost enquire with your embassy or consulate. They set procedure for the registration of a newborn, nobody else.
Some have a separate procedure for the choice of names, some may want to follow whatever documentation is produced on the Chinese side. Ask them directly to be safe.
The double passport thing might not be doable anymore. As far as I know, hospitals nowadays deliver a (green) paper at birth, in one single copy, that you may chose to give to the PSB (or whatever administration) or your consulate. You cannot use it twice, so here goes your choice for nationality.
I couldn't confirm whether this is true for Canada, so again, ask them.
I have personally not been bothered by the Family Planning or other bullshit department, maybe because I'm using my own insurance, or just because my wife took care of it without telling me.
mike695ca:
Too be honest i never even thought of contacting the consulate. Mine always seems kind of useless with the whole China is wierd and we dont know anything attitude. Its always been a place wherr i tell them what I need and theu do it. Not a source of information. Thanks, Ill enquire though.
RiriRiri:
From what I read you have plans for Chinese nationality, that might not be of huge importance then. Except for the name, don't know if you care to be stuck with pinyin, I would.
If I were you I would still read about the Canadian laws and regulations on citizenship or seek advice from peers with a similar experience. Better safe than sorry.
If you plan for your child to be a Canadian citizen from birth, you tell the hospital and family planning bureau.
The name that you choose to go on the birth certificate is of your choosing (English or Chinese) BUT that name is the name that will appear on his/her citizenship and passport (no more than 14 letters including spaces).
If you want more details, please pm me as I find the amount of conjecture and misinformation that appears in these threads {especially from those that do not even have children} is appalling.
Hotwater:
Surely then, if there is conjecture & misinformation on these threads then it's best that you reply to Mike on here with the correct information so we all learn more about the ins & outs of it all. To me that is one of the main reasons for these forums (& to let off steam on BCD's!)
Can't really help you there, homie. I'd just say do whatever you can to make your child a Canadian citizen right away, and not a Chinese national.
My son born in China has an English name on his birth certificate,and Chinese passport,he was born in May 2012. Raymond Michael then my family name which is another 7 letters,so i think it's different rules everywhere as usual
Please note the paper work for a baby born with a foreign father in China will be VERY time consuming and difficult for your wife, please support her.. I couldn't believe the stacks she had to fill out and the extra stuff she had to do just because I was a foreigner.
mike695ca:
Hahaha not to worry. In my marriage shes the foreigner and im the Chinese. She hasnt never been able to handle this kind of stuff. It will be all me with an asist from my best friends. Ive been doing this shit for years. Bills , marriage, errands, payments and banking. Housing , cars. Shes never even looked at the paperwork. She doesnt know if she has a hundred kuai or a million. It works for us. Im not useless here and she does different jobs.
ironman510:
Oh, than I pass the sympathy to you. haha so funny, my wife handle the car, buying the house and all paper work. I just sat there haha, but paid the money if that matters.
Simple : If you register him as chinese person, the name you should use are only chinese characters. If you decide give him foreigner nationality, thatn you can provide his name in cyrilic same as it will be in his passport. I believe we did not asked for permission, because we was not giving birth to another chinese national ...
Kid always bear the fathers family name, unless father is "uknown soldier" or so. If you want take him "back to Canada" he have to be Canadian, to do such trip in this way. I thought you know that things ... 
