Expecting father of 混血小孩 with a few questions

[道艺]

Hi all,

First of all, excited to say our first child is due for mid November. ?

 

We're based in shanghai, me being an american and my 另一半 being a 新上海人. We've been running all over getting paperwork, certificates, baby clothes, vitamins...the whole nine yards. But there are a few things we have been getting unclear answers on and was wondering if anyone here has experience or suggestions.

 

1) Any thoughts on US citizenship vs Chinese? We're thinking Chinese so he/she can study here until middle school, let him/her study until high school in the US, then letting the kid choose before 18 on a final citizenship. From what I've gotten so far, it seems before 18 we really just need to think about what's best for schooling, and then by 18 the kid can choose him/herself.

 

2) How does naming work? We've got some Chinese names we like, but when registering for US documents, will we need to do literal translations, phonetic translations, or can we just choose an entirely different "English identity" for the kid?

 

3) Anyone else wait to learn the gender until birth? We figure it is one of the few times in life we can both be truly surprised

 

Hope I'm not asking too much, & thx in advance to anyone who can spare some time for our questions

[abcdefg]

I cannot help with your questions, but wanted to offer my heartfelt congratulations! I can relate to your concerns. (I came close to getting married and starting a family during my years in China, but for one reason or another, it just never quite happened.) 

[Moshen]

Quote

1) Any thoughts on US citizenship vs Chinese?

 

Congrats!

 

My nephew was born outside the US to 2 American parents, so therefore a US citizen, though he mostly lived abroad.  This year he had a kid and the paperwork to get US citizenship for his kid was unreal!  If I'm remembering correctly, he had to be married to the mother of the child (they got married before the birth) and secondly, he had to prove he'd lived in the US for at least five years - which was a challenge to produce that evidence even though he in fact had done it.  I'm sure your situation is different, but I would advise you to find out now what kind of paperwork is necessary for US citizenship for this child and to line it all up when you are still in Shanghai, if that's where the child would be born.

 

The other thing is, be aware that the US State Dept is woefully underfunded at present and any documents you need from them will be very slow in coming.

[道艺]

On 7/20/2022 at 12:32 AM, Moshen said:

the paperwork to get US citizenship for his kid was unreal!

A child born abroad to two US citizens still required proving the parents had lived in the US for at least five years? That's so strange.

[TheBigZaboon]

I may be reading her sentence wrong, and I did have to read it twice myself, but I think she means the child, when he grew up and had children of his own, had to prove that he had lived in the US for five years when he wanted to get citizenship papers for HIS child... 

 

TBZ

[道艺]

actually I did just get confirmation that when declaring a foreign born child as a US citizen you need to prove at least 5 years of residence there. was surprised and shocked but yes that seems to be the policy, even for people born & raised there