Work in Australia but want to give birth in Hong Kong?

S

snowflake

New member
Hi guys,

I was born in Hong Kong (have HKID card, 3 stars) but moved to Australia many years ago for study and work.

I am now 5 weeks pregnant but would like to give birth in Hong Kong since I was born there and would like my baby to be the same as me.

My immediate family is all in Australia though, so am not sure how to go about in doing this...

I've read a few of the threads and would probably be looking at giving birth in a public hospital (since I have no health insurance in Hong Kong) and can't afford to pay the premium for private hospitals/rooms.

How do I ensure that I'm legible for giving birth in a public hospital? and is it okay to just have majority of the anenatal checks with a doctor in Australia and provide the hospital a copy of the data?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated :)
 
How soon before your due date would you move here and how long would you stay before you went back to Australia with it? Would you have any family in hk to help you with the baby after it's born?
 
Hi Aquarian,

Thanks for the fast reply!

My due date is around 13th June 2014. I plan to only be in Hong Kong for all the necessary check-ups as I can?t afford to be away from work for too long in Australia (and neither can my husband). I know I would definitely have to travel back to Hong Kong and stay there from week 35 onwards and would stay as long as required after the baby is born to sort out all the necessary paperwork.

My grandma is in Hong Kong, but unfortunately went into a nursing home just a few months ago this year but I do have an aunty and a few older cousins that may be able to help after the baby is born.
 
Ok- there is no need to come to hk just for check ups. The public hospital will take you even if you've never had a check up here but I would think seriously about who will definitely be able to help you. The first 2 weeks are *incredibly* hard and being on your own (?) with a newborn, even just for a couple of weeks is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy!

Edit: will your husband be coming over at 35 weeks?
 
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I see, so there is no need to 'register' with a hospital first in Hong Kong?

Yes, I gathered that... I think I would be able to stay with my Aunty in Yuen Long when I go back to Hong Kong in Week 35. My husband may accompany me during birth but depending on his work since he does fly in fly out anyway, so he's not always around.

I gather from some other threads that it may take around 42 days to obtain all the necessary ID documents and also apply for an Australian passport so that the newborn can go back to Australia?
 
Yes you do need to register with a hospital first.

It took us 10 working days to get baby's Australian proof of citizenship and another 10 working days for the passport.
 
You could register at 35 weeks, but you would need to show proof of address in hk (bank statement etc). So it might be the case you just have to turn up at a&e. Though you could ask at the hospital in advance if you can register if you're not resident.

(Incidentally, I know you have hkid, but does that qualify you for free public care if you don't actually live here? In the UK it wouldn't be enough)

I don't know how long it takes to get australian paperwork I'm afraid.
 
I suppose I would ask yourself is it really worth the stress of being alone in hk- away from the dad, close family and friends, for months just to be born in hk.

Personally I wouldn't do it. But that's just me.
 
sa_li said:
Yes you do need to register with a hospital first.
Click to expand...

No- she can go to any a&e without registering, but it is far from ideal and the drs won't be happy.

It took us 10 working days to get baby's Australian proof of citizenship and another 10 working days for the passport.
Click to expand...

Was this after you'd waited to get the hk birth cert?
 
Thanks for the info guys!

We're still looking into it, to give birth in Australia or in Hong Kong.

I do have a bank account and address in Hong Kong still, but will see how it all goes when I go back in January 2014 (just after first trimester) :)

@sa_li - did you do the same thing too? Give birth in HK to give your child another form of ID? How did the registration process work from birth of child to getting the Australian passport and how long did you have to wait before going back to Australia?
 
A few things:

1. you don't HAVE to register, but should do so, so that the hospital has you in their system. This will mean that when you are in labour, you can go directly to the labour ward rather than going through A&E. You probably need to be in HK in order to register. First book the first appointment over the phone, and then you will be given a registration appointment as well. Must go in person, can be anywhere from about 12 weeks until later (I did it at 28 weeks this time around but they weren't too happy about that). Explain to them at that appointment that you will be out of HK until 35 weeks but you will make sure you keep a file for them of your test results etc and you can give to them at your 36 week appointment. They probably won't be happy but what will they do?

2. There are benefits for the baby being born here - if they are born in HK, it is much easier for them to get two passports than if they are born in Australia. My hubby is Australian Chinese and this was one main reason for us wanting to give birth here. If they are born in Australia, they technically should renounce Australian citizenship if they want to get Chinese citizenship.

3. You PROBABLY can travel back if all goes smoothly around 6 weeks after the birth. Some would say 4 weeks even. Just be super organised and ask them to expedite everything. This is if you are getting Australian passport here in HK. Not sure about the procedure for getting HK passport first and then doing the Aussie citizenship and passport after you are back in Oz.

4. Please note that the public hospitals are based on catchment areas, so you will need to go to the hospital of your catchment, not any of your choosing.

5. I am certain you are eligible to use the public system - I have a Chinese friend who was here visiting family at 24 weeks or so and her waters broke. She was in QMH for 4 weeks on bedrest before the baby was born at about 28 weeks. He was in NICU for about 3 months. Her entire stay as well as the baby's was covered under the public health system. She was a US resident at the time.

6. just make sure you have a good support network - can family from Australia also come to help out? It is such a tumultuous time - both wonderful, but so many emotions... you need to look after yourself too!!
 
Snowflake, I have a friend in Australia who gave birth here for the same reasons but the difference is that she had her mum and dad here and they had domestic helpers and a home. I would agree with others the first few weeks are very hard without any help especially if you plan on being efficient and getting about town to do all the paperwork for your child

She gave birth through the private system. She stayed 7 weeks after the birth and in that time she was able to register for the baby's birth certificate in HK. Without this you won't be able to do anything. The birth certificate does not come very quickly, the doctors have to fill in something and have this registered with the births/death/marriages section. It takes a few days, don't expect you will be able to sort it out the day after you give birth, for me it took about a week but I gave birth in the private. My other child born in Australia, I got the birth certificate before I left the hospital.

After the birth certificate you need to apply for the HK passport and HKID, that way you can really honestly say they have no other citizenship when you apply (you don't have to wait until issue of the passport or HKID before applying for the Aussie stuff just need to put it in first). Thereafter my friend went to get citizenship by descent for her son and after that was eligible for a passport. If i remember correctly she couldn't get an expedited one as it was a first passport. 10 working days x2 sounds about right.

Her husband almost missed the birth of her son as he was still in Australia when her waters broke early (37 weeks) but she ended having a c-section as her labour was not progressing. Like others I wanted to have my husband with me but that was not an issue as my first was in Australia. You may have to give this some thought.

Also in the public they will not induce you because your baby needs to be born by a certain time (i.e. husband's leave). so another thing to think about. Also they will not offer an elective C-section if it is not indicated. So you really need to think about whether you want husband there (as he sounds like he doesn't have too much leave up his sleeve) and if not then go for it.

Good luck and god bless!
 
@snowflake: I can't remember how many days you need to wait before you can get the birth cert. Reason being, the public hospital needs to send your baby's birth details to the registry before you can go get the cert. But I got my baby's birth cert, HK passport, HKID within a month of birth.

Like mummymoo said, you can apply for the Australian citizenship right after you get the birth cert, and it took 10 working days, and then another 10 working days for the passport (granted you submit the application right away).

Bear in mind you'll need photos for the HK passport, Australian citizenship + passport applications.
Also, you'll need a guarantor to sign for the baby's identity for the Australian citizenship + passport.
 
Hi~

My friend did the same and gave birth in HK for the HKID but she came to HK at the end of 2nd trimester when it was still safe to fly (remember to make sure your Dr. in Oz gives you the ok!). As long as you have an HKID you can use the public system (but actually even if you are a visitor you can use it too but with a fee) but they probably won't be too happy if you suddenly rock up ready to give birth! If your address is Yuen Long, you will probably be sent to Prince of Wales Hospital? It's one of the principal hospitals and a teaching hospital in the area. My friend's husband came at 36 weeks and luckily she gave birth at 37 weeks, and he managed to take a month's leave so that all worked out well.

You will need to stay in HK for at least 1-2 months afterwards to wait firstly for the birth certificate, then to apply for the citizenship of descent from the Australian Embassy, and then after which you can apply for the passport. I remember it took around 1 month to get everything for my little one from the Australian Embassy.
 
To anybody thinking of doing this, here are some points to consider

1. There is a minimum of two weeks from after you discharge and settle all bills from hospital you have to wait before the hospital sends the birth return to the registry. Only then can you book an appointment to get the birth certificate which is key to everything else.

2. Obtaining HKSAR travel documents takes 14 working days. This process will give the child an ID card and passport at the same time. Forms required for this process are ID842, ROP3 and ID641. Available from ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? - ? ? ? ? ?. Might be handy to book an appointment to do this because of the huge number of people at the offices.

3. Getting Australian Citizenship by Descent takes 10 working days. The document for this is Form 118. This requires an Identity Declaration. This doesn't necessarily have to be done by an Australian Citizen, rather a person of a specific occupation as listed in Form 118 is more critical. Recommend you get to the consulate early (before opening) to avoid queues.

4. Following that, application for an Australian Passport takes a further 10 working days. In HK, you cannot get this priority processed (we tried). The form for this is online at passports.gov.au. You will need to find someone to be a Guarantor. A bit simpler if this person is an Australian citizen but otherwise, it can be a person of a specific occupation.

Hope this helps!
 
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