amoncur

Hi,
We are a family of 5 and have both UK and Australian citizenship. We live in the uk and are going for a trip to Australia in April. I asked my travel agent which passport we should travel on and she stated UK. I now realise that because we have aussie passports we can't get an ETA visa and therefore may not be able to get in to Australia on a uk passport! I am now confused about what we do.
This must be so common but from looking on line there doesn't appear to be a clear answer. To add to the confusion we have a 6 month old baby who only has a UK passport!
Hoping you can help
Thanks

bcworld

You exit and enter Australia using your AU passports...and use whichever passport you like to enter the UK (although you should of course use your UK one unless you want a 6 month entry stamp in your AU passport!)...simples!

BritInParis

Depart the UK, enter and depart Australian on your Australian passports - re-enter the UK on your British passport.

rammygirl

the baby will either need an Australian passport, or possibly a visit visa depending on their citizenship status.

Buzzy--Bee

Your travel agent has not answered the question.

An Australian citizen should not enter Australia on anything but an Australian passport.

Present the UK ones at the UK border, going either way.
Present the AUS ones at the AUS border, going either way.
Get an Electronic travel authority thingo for the baby (your travel agent can do this).

BB

rammygirl

You will need to depart UK on Aussie passport or the airline may not let you board as you will not have a valid visa in your UK passport. Just carry both.

You cannot get a visit visa for the baby if they have obtained citizenship.

moneypenny20

I'd have thought you would have enough time to sort out both Australian Citizenship and Passport for the baby before your April trip.

Disclaimer: Don't work for AHC so don't blame me if you cant.

quoll

Yup, get your skates on! Register the little'un for citizenship by descent then get the Aus passport. Should be enough time.

teza

Actually if the little one is citizen by decent he can enter as a visitor and register once onshore. That's what we did and I'm sure JAJ will correct me if I'm wrong but he/she will not be citizen until application has been processed and therefore can hold a visitor visa to enter the country.

moneypenny20

Depends on why they're coming to Aus and how long for. I think I'd have better things to do whilst on holiday than faffing around with trying to organise citizenship without a permanent address. If it's a permanent move then definitely do it in Aus.

quoll

But then technically the baby would be entering as a tourist so the parents would have to lie on the immigration form because the intention is not for him to be a tourist. Why bother taking the risk when you could get the process done before you leave.

teza

But they are not lying as child will not be citizen until application is made....

rammygirl

And the op did say it was just a trip.

BritInParis

It's perfectly allowable to apply onshore. Whether it would be practical would depend on the length of the trip.

quoll

They did too, I missed that! In that case, a tourist visa would be fine and sort out citizenship when they get back!