Pregnancy - Girlfriend Overstayer

[gaz66]

Apologies if this topic has come up previously but I could not find a related post.

I am a British Citizen (born here, lived here all my life, pay all taxes etc etc). My girlfriend has overstayed her visa and has lost passport (stolen by people who told her they could get visa extended).

We have been together for approx 18 months and have just found out that we are expeting our first child.

The question I have is not regarding nationality of the child when born but how do we go about getting medical treatment during pregnancy (scans, midwife, birth etc).

Do hospitals ask for passport details or do we have to go private. If private, do they ask for details.

Would appreciate any advice as we are now about 8 weeks and would like to get things checked out.

Thanks for any assistance.

[SYH]

You are a british citizen but you do not know how to sign up for nhs. Your gf has been here for 18 months and you have not bothered to get her registered at a gp.


and her passport has been stolen. (oh boo hoo) Please tell me you reported to the authorities that your passport isn't being returned.

or go to whatever her nationality is, go to the appropriate consulated and get an emergency passport so she can go home

[avjones]

She isn't entitled to NHS care. For private maternity care, the link below shows the costs (thousands).

http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/private- ... nity-costs

What do you intend to do about sorting out her immigration status?

[sakura]

She isn't entitled to NHS care. For private maternity care, the link below shows the costs (thousands).

http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/private- ... nity-costs

What do you intend to do about sorting out her immigration status?

Where has the OP gone? This question is of fundamental importance! What is your girlfriend's nationality?

avjones - does the NHS usually check people's statuses? Or, would they soon find out - e.g. on the birth certificate or any other forms asking about the mother?

[tinux]

Hi

NHS does not check people's right to be in this country what they check is IDs in form if water bill etc.... as long as the person is a citizan it is ok.
citizans means a person who lived or lives for 3 months. could register with a GP. i had a big row with the NHs once when they refused to register my relative of mine even though she was on a visa of 2 years and married to a BC. as soon as she moved to London no questions were asked. they insisted to see her Id in form of bills and would not look at her passport where it says spouce visa

now if this person was registered then it would be ok even though sh eoverstays afterward. if however if she was not then a BC should be able to change the Gp and register his family by only providing his Passport as a proof of ID. that is one possibility
also it is up to the GP to either register or refuse.
Once register the hospital could still ask to see proof of Id for the wife for maternity bit. one way around this is to simply give the hospital id in form of water bill etc... nothing says she needs to provide a passport. unless she was a visitor which then is not entittled to free NHS.
I personally know someone who gave birth to 2 children and is and has been illegal for the last 3 or 4 years but married to a BC.

[Nowty]

I think it depends where you live. When I took my Brazilian Girlfriend who was legal here on a student visa to register with my GP they did not want to see any form of ID. We offered her passport, utility bill etc, but all they were bothered about was did she have a local address and no proof of that address was required. They were not even interested what visa she had or how long it was valid for.

Maybe its a bit more difficult getting hospital treatment, but then again if she was referred by the GP then I doubt there would be any questions.

I cannot imagine someone would be turned away from such a basic need of medical care.

[Dawie]

My experience of the NHS in London is that they don't ask to see proof of anything. They simply ask your name and address.

My impression is that NHS staff cannot and will not do the Home Office's dirty work and most medical staff seem reluctant get to even get involved with entitlement checking.

[paulp]

How do you think that is going to change with the introduction of ID cards for foreigners next year? Isn't that one of the "benefits" that was touted by the politicians, i.e. to stop health tourism?

[Dawie]

How do you think that is going to change with the introduction of ID cards for foreigners next year? Isn't that one of the "benefits" that was touted by the politicians, i.e. to stop health tourism?

I don't know. Perhaps we will have to wait for the first case of a foreigner dying in an A&E ward because he was refused treatment because the on-duty nurse thought he had just the slightest hint of a foreign accent and he wasn't able to produce his ID card.

You might laugh, but that can and does happen in other countries where people have to prove their entitlement to health care, the USA being a case in point, except there the distinction is between those who do and don't have private health insurance.

Although these days you'd be hard pressed to find a British citizen working anywhere in a London hospital so perhaps their attitudes will be more understanding.

[VictoriaS]

Emergency care will always be provided to those without the right visa, but this girl needs ongoing neo/ante natal care, which is not considered emergency, so she is going to have to pay.

Victoria

[jimquk]

As i understand it, GPs and others are supposed to ask for proof of entitlement, but have generally refused to get involved. If the OP tries his luck with a few GPs, I'm sure he'll find one to help out. Emergency treatment is always free.

There have been some horror stories (http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/NR/rdo ... _jun06.pdf) of refused asylum-seekers being denied GP and other attention, being billed for care already received, and then being too scared to access even emergency treatment; also of people refused GP care going to A&E further down the line with much worse (and more expensive) problems.

I'm afraid it's predictable that in future we will see a lot more of this.