BundyPompeyBoy

Evening all, just found the site during an extensive internet search for relevant information on travel back to UK

I am a British Citizen, married to an Australian, with a 10 month old son born here.

My wife and i met in the UK 5 years ago and married in the UK 4 years ago and have been in Oz since August 2008, our son was born in Bundaberg last July.

We are currently in the provisional planning stages of a month long visit back to the UK for next February. I am an Austrailian permanant resident.

My questions are regarding the citizenship of our son, and what options we have with regards entering the UK then re-entering Oz. My wife and i have not left Australia since we arrived, and as such our son has not either. I have a current british passport and my wife will be renewing her Oz one, and we will be getting an Oz one for our son.

So i will be entering the UK on my British passport while my wife and son will be on their Oz passports... i assume this means a split up at arrivals to go thru separate queues?? And obviously this will be vice versa when we return to Oz.

What documentation will we need to complete with regards to Visa's for my wife and son to stay in the UK for the month?

Am i likely to run into problems upon return to Oz, as the sticker in my UK passport for my spousal visa has an expired date (when my permanent residency was granted i was told they do not apply new stickers as the immigration data base will know that i am a current permanent resident anyway)

What options do we have with regards to getting my son and wife UK passports, and myself an Australian one (i assume i have to to the citizenship test, but can i keep my UK citizenship too and have 2 passsports (2 passports would be the ideal outcome for all 3 of us)

What documentation is recommended for us to have on our person when travelling (marriage certs, birth certs etc)

Sorry for all the questions, i am just a little bit concerned that we are going to run into problems getting into the UK and even more worryingly getting back into Aus on our return)

ANY help that members can shed on the subject really would be gratefully received

Lewis

Bermudashorts

Your wife and son do not need to organise a UK visa, they can stay in UK for six months on their Australian passports. Assuming you are not a British citizen by descent, your son would be a British citizen and you could get a passport for him, but you don't need to.

Your wife would be trickier, there would be steps to take before she could get a British passport, like a UK visa, but I really do not know anything about the UK process. The best place for advice on that is the MBTTUK forum.

I think you can all go through queues together, i.e. they come with you in the UK and you go with them in the citizens queue in Australia.

I didn't quite understand the bit about your visa for Australia. Do you mean you got a resident return visa upon expiration of the original five year visa, but did not get it evidenced in your passport with a sticker? If so, then yes that is ok. But you do need to have an unexpired visa in order to re-enter Australia. It is electronic, they won't even look for the physical label, but you do need to have it.

I can't think of any reason why you would need to travel with your birth or marriage certificates.

Pollyana

If the only visa you had is a Spouse Visa, and you do not have a Resident Return Visa, you need to get one before you leave, otherwise you will have big problems trying to re-enter Australia. Alternatively you can apply or citizenship, which might come through in time for your trip.

Have a read of:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Reside...Visa-Australia
http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/resi...-documents.htm
and
www.citizenship.gov.au

And welcome to BE

BundyPompeyBoy

Thanks for the replies guys, thats cleared some of the points up for me

With regards to my spouse visa;

I have just badgered the wife to dig out the Visa folder (jeez she didn't like that request! )

My original visa granted in May 2008 was a Subclass 309 Provisional Spouse Visa

This was changed in May 2010 to a Subclass 100 Spouse (Residence) Visa

In the letter it states;

"...Your visa provides a return facility which allows you to travel in and out of Australia as a permanent resident for a period of five years from the date it was granted..."

So that answers my original question (perhaps i should of gotten off my backside and read it!)

On a side note, anyone know what the process will be after the above mentioned 5 years is up (will be May 2015)??

The letter states that the visa sticker in my passport will not be updated replaced as the details are all kept electronically and linked to my passport number, so that answers that one too then!

Pollyana

Once the 5 years are up you either need a RRV or citizenship in order to travel and return to Australia. Have a read of the links above

BundyPompeyBoy

Thanks very much guys and gals

You've put my mind at rest with some excellent advice! Thanks heaps!

Penny45

Don't know about the Visas but my kids and husband all have Oz and UK passports. When we come into Australia, I can join the OZ passport queue (which says for passport holders and their families) with them. When we fly back home, we just pick the shortest queue - at Heathrow that would be EU passports but once at Cardiff went into the foreign one as no-one else there and kids used OZ passports to get in.
You will have probs at check-in in this country if they can't see return visa in passport and you have a return ticket. We were almost turned away once (long story).