Thinking about having kids... in the future...

[Mrs Pony]

So OH and I (when we're ready) would like to have kids here in NZ (as long as PR comes through) so that they can have dual citizenship. I read somewhere that you have to have IRRV in order to do that... What if you only have the RRV? Has anyone else gone through the process with the US?

[Helsandfamily]

When you have PR you become a permanent resident and I thought that once you had that your new baby would or could become a citizen of NZ, because they were born here regardless of your returning residency visa. (Whether RRV or IRRV). But you have to be a permanent resident for this to be the case.

[IanW99]

So OH and I (when we're ready) would like to have kids here in NZ (as long as PR comes through) so that they can have dual citizenship. I read somewhere that you have to have IRRV in order to do that... What if you only have the RRV? Has anyone else gone through the process with the US?

You only need to have RRV (well technically residence permit), see Changes to Citizenship by birth in NZ for details.

Ian

[walshy]

so if you are a resident and have a child, the child is a citizen at birth? would the parents still have to wait for 5 years to become one?

[JandM]

Yes. There's no reason parents and children HAVE to have the same nationality/citizenship.

[sophiedb]

Yes. There's no reason parents and children HAVE to have the same nationality/citizenship.

This. My mum certainly didn't gain British citizenship by my birth, nor my husband by DD's birth

Sadly I didn't get NZ citizenship by hers either *phhhbt* but I suppose we were in the UK, so two negatives

[Ana&Steve]

yep, PR for the parents for baby to have NZ citizenship. That's why we could use the non-tourist line at the airport last year, we had a baby with NZ passport. (and the mum had a UK passport and I had US) For my friends, if they decided to move back to NZ, having a child who is a NZ citizen has no bearing on their success, though when the baby turns 18 he could sponsor his parents.
Very different than what we're used to in the States!

[DMcG]

You can get your RRV converted into an IRRV after two years - for a suitable fee of course - when it expires. The trick is not to leave the country after it's expired without getting an IRRV - otherwise they don't have to let you back in the to NZ

Dougie

[Mrs Pony]

Thanks everyone! Yea I had a friend that's been here for about 5 years just went to OZ and they almost didn't let her back into NZ because she never got IRRV! They had to call Immigration from the gate!

So as soon as we have PR whenever we have a baby he or she would be able to have NZ & US citizenship... I'm sure it's just loads of paperwork to get done... whenever the time comes I think I would see about going to the US Embassy and see what I would have to do for that part...

[globetrecker]

I'm going to throw in a 3rd one here: What if one parent is American and the other is Canadian, and we have a baby here once we get PR. Which dual residency will the baby get? Do we get to choose?