nationality of new born on aircraft while plane is in air. Departure, airspace, or destination country??

Question

If a child was born whilst mother was in mid air flight, what would the immediate nationality of the child be. Both parents would be UK nationals, on board a UK based Airline. Travelling from - say - UK on longhaul nonstop to Dubai. Would the child have to be registered at the first country the aircraft stopped at???

Thanks in anticipation -- (office debate)

Answer 1

British......

Almost every country in the world, as well as the United Nations, has procedures and recommendations for how to properly classify the geographic details of an in-air birth. The United Nations considers a child born in-flight to have been born in the airplane's registered country. Some countries point to the city where the child first disembarked the plane as the place of birth, and to the airplane's registered country as the place of citizenship. Of course, citizenship and birthplace are two different topics -- citizenship is typically a larger issue and may require some paperwork, while writing a child's birthplace on a birth certificate is often a less legally significant consideration...

However......British Airways, prohibits women from traveling in the last month of pregnancy.

Answer 2

Well, the child would certainly be a UK citizen, however I seem to remember that - depending on the legistlation of that country - a child may also aquire citizenship of the country in whose airspace the plane is at the time of birth. I have certainly heard of cases like that.
However, I agree with the other guys. Usually airlines dont allow pregnant women to travel when they are in the last trimester, unless they provide a doctor's cert stating they are fit for air travel...

Answer 3

Unless the mother chooses otherwise it will be in the country that the child first lands in. However, you can always get dual citizenship of the country that the mother is from. So if you are flying from USA to England and you give birth in the air, the child could either either citizenship depending on the mothers preference.

Answer 4

Same as a ship-nationality of the aircraft at moment of birth-then dual nationality when registered
Under British procedures this must be done before the child is two years old to gain automatic citizenship-and avoid reams of paper work
I mention this as it is possible,following the flight,they are out of country

Answer 5

As I understand it, new international agreements say that a child's nationality is primarily determined by the mother's nationality. If the parents are married they adopt the father's nationality.

If course nothing is ever that simple and I am sure that there are exceptions there to confuse everyone!

Answer 6

UK.

While a baby born in the USA acquires US citizenship, this is certainly not how it works in many other countries.
People from many parts of the world do not relate place of birth to nationality.

Answer 7

They are definetely UK citizen. Definetely not by what airspace you're in.. I remeber a ruling on that. I doubt its the country you are planning to enter, since you have not entered it yet and the nation can deny entry before you do enter. Birth parents is always a key in Citizenship.

Answer 8

A pregnant women is not allowed to take international flights.. as far as I know. But if it did happen then the nationality of the baby would also depend on the parents' country nationality policy, is it ius soli or ius sanguini

Answer 9

Dual; nationality.....Takes on the nationality of the aircraft and also the country its parents are from.

Answer 10

Until you leave the airplane, you are still in the FLAG CARRIER country's government.
Meaning the newborn should have in his/her documents the airline's country.