New Zealand Passes Baby Citizenship Law

Starting in 2006, it will be impossible for Korean families to go to New Zealand to give birth to a baby in order to obtain New Zealand citizenship.

This is because the law prohibiting the practice of automatically granting a baby born in New Zealand citizenship unless at least one of a baby’s two parents is a permanent resident or a citizen came into effect beginning January 1.

The New Zealand government said that it established the law in order to block foreigners from abusing the previous law, which offered automatic citizenship to all babies born in New Zealand.

The New Zealand government noted that when foreign families deliver a baby in New Zealand, they can take advantage of free educational and medical services, and the New Zealand people have to bear the burden of paying for those services.

According to the New Zealand Ministry of Home Affairs, around 57,000 babies are being born every year, and one percent, or about 600 babies, were born to women who visited New Zealand in the short term.

A foreigner is able to apply for permanent residency after staying more than two years in New Zealand, and he or she can become a citizen of New Zealand only after living there for five more years after being granted permanent New Zealand residency.

Ho-Gab Lee gdt@donga.com