[nitendoraku]

Presumably if you didn't achieve residency elsewhere any potential wife would have some status which could be passed onto the kids?

[peterburkimsher]

Not if she's in the same situation, like most classmates and other Geneva people.

What if my temporary work visa gets denied? If I had a family, I could end up unemployed, deported, and separated from wife and kids. Those kids would grow up without a father around, increasing their chances of divorce. It would be disastrous.

Would I rather choose a wife based on her nationality, or go through the long, gruelling process of trying to earn it? My girlfriend is from Taiwan, and despite its many flaws, the Immigration system is really my only hope for getting the prerequisites to start a family.

[gumby]

In some countries nationality status can only be passed through paternity, not maternity.

There might still be some countries that require that a child be born physically within the country as well, though I don’t track it.