eliza61

Hi Everyone, new here and hoping someone will be able to help out with some info.

I am a permanent resident with a British Passport, I've been in Australia since I was a child.

My 89 year old mum who also lives in Australia is currently holidaying with her family in Ireland. I just received a call to say that she is crook with pneumonia, it's not life threatening she is expected to make a full recovery but she has been in hospital for 6 days and her doctor has recommended a companion escort her back to Australia.

Mum wants me to to be the escort and I think the travel insurance covers my cost. Anyway I stupidly did not renew my last passport which expired in May 2011. I have been googling like mad to see what my options are and my head is spinning.

Has anyone had any experiences with getting Emergency passports? do they cover a return journey and how long do they take? My mum's flight is booked with Malaysian Airlines to leave Ireland on the 3rd of August.

Thanks in advance.

Sue

Hi Eliza,

I've moved your post into a new thread for you as I think it may get lost in the other thread.

I can't help with you specific query as I have no experience with that, but hopefully some of the our other members will be along soon who may be able to help.

Just to clarify, you are not an Australia citizen?

Pollyana

Have a look at these links
http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/en/h...als/passports/

http://ukinnewzealand.fco.gov.uk/en/...pply/australia

and then it looks like you will need to contact the High Commission

eliza61

No I am not an Australian Citizen in all honestly up until 2000 I thought I had dual nationality because I came here in the earlly 60's when I was 3 years old (I'm 50 now). I applied for an Australian Passport in 2000 and it was knocked back. My own slackness that I haven't gotten around to applying for citizenship since then.

JAJ

You also need a valid Resident Return Visa to get back into Australia as a permanent resident, as well as a passport. Have you got one of these?

eliza61

I have a Return Endorsement in an old passport and in my most recently expired passport I have a Resident Return visa that expired in 06. I'll contact Immigration on Monday to figure out how to get a new one in my Emergency Passport.

Just spoke to the insurance company, as expected they are trying to avoid their responsibilities. Said to me their medical people would make a decision closer to her departure date (3rd of August) I pointed out that their medical people had not seen her but the dr who wrote the discharge note saying she needed a companion had seen her.

I also pointed out that it was unreasonable to expect me to wait until the last minute to try and get leave from work and organise my family. He conceded that yes that was something to consider.

They will get back to me later today.

commonwealth

the resident return visa can be applied for online, takes 1 day to process. but you need a valid passport to apply.

your other (possibly more time-practical) option may be to ask another person to accompany your mum.

nevertheless i would suggest you apply for Oz citizenship asap.

eliza61

Hopefully I'll get the Emergency Passport within a week and then can go into immigration and get the visa. Mum really wants me to go, also I have an understanding Nurse Manager and it is harder from my brother to get leave.

JAJ

The Return Endorsement is no longer valid if you replaced it by a Resident Return Visa. Although your RRV expired in 2006, if you have remained in Australia since then you are still a permanent resident provided that you do not leave the country without a new Resident Return Visa.

The cost of an RRV is much more than it used to be. It's now A$300.

Immigration can normally issue a new RRV over the counter if you visit one of their offices and meet the normal residence requirement. There are problems with residents who arrived many years ago not being able to prove their status, however if you got an RRV in 2001 or so you should still be "on their system". However, bring evidence of your prior visas.

Your decision back in 2000 not to become an Australian citizen (when you found out that you're not one) was an unwise choice. You can investigate taking out Australian citizenship at http://www.citizenship.gov.au. Same applies to your brother, if he is also still a non-citizen.

eliza61

It certainly was an unwise choice not to become a citizen, lesson learnt. However in my defense when you have been in Australia your whole adult life minus 3 years (that is 47 years in total) you don't feel the same kind of urgency that an adult migrant does I don't think. Despite being born in the UK I have always felt Australian.

My brother is not a citizen either but my 89 year old mum did it about 15 years ago, in fact she has an British, Irish and Aussie passport.

And yes I read that if you replace your Return Endorsement with a RR visa it invalidates the Return Endorsement, I find this puzzling, why didn't they tell me when I applied in 2001 for the RR that I didn't need to as I had an RE?

JAJ

Some people, in the same situation, would make it top priority to acquire citizenship. Still, it's a lesson learned. It's not too late to apply now, although it won't help your immediate problem.

It's never too late to become a citizen if you're eligible to do so. Was she born in Ireland or Northern Ireland? If yes, then you're also an Irish citizen by descent but it may be harder to get a first Irish passport than an emergency British passport. However, you could ask if they could issue a limited validity passport.

For the British passport, look at:
http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/en/h...nals/passports

The validity of the passport will be tailored to your travel requirements and they may be able to set it up so that it's valid for you to return to Australia. You will need to ask for more than 6 months validity (they can give up to 12 months) in case you need to stop-over in somewhere like Singapore.

Because, 1. not all DIAC staff know what a Return Endorsement is, and 2. There are circumstances where someone might want to swap an RE for an RRV and it's not DIAC staff job to advise you on what is the best option.

eliza61

My mum was born in Southern Ireland, I have an Irish passpoort but that is also expired actually I have never used it. I got it in 1981 when I was in Ireland on a working holiday.

10 years ago when I realised I wasn't a citizen my life was very different to now, I had young children, less money and was flat out busy. It is easy to judge others on what they did or did not do but I didn't apply for citizenship and could kick myself now but don't really want to be judged.

Also re DIAC staff not being the ones to advise re Visa's if it is not their job whose job is it. How is an average Jo like myself supposed to know the best options?

moneypenny20

DIAC officers are there to just do their job which is issue or deny visas. The phone 'helpline' is less than useless they tend to suggest you check out the website

For immigration advice you (general or particular take your pick ) need to speak to a MARA registered agent. Independent but experts in the whys and wherefores of all things relating to migrants in Australia.

Dorothy

It's not DIAC staff's job to advise on the best visa for you. It's the job of a migration agent. The average Jo like you (or me) would ask an expert if they don't know. It would be like asking courthouse staff what the best defence would be for a criminal charge. They don't know...A lawyer knows, so you would find one of those.

I also don't think JAJ was meaning to be judgemental. He was simply pointing out that it's not too late to get your citizenship so you have security here and aren't scrambling for things like emergency UK passports and RRVs in times like these.

eliza61

I am 50 years old and I have been in Australia since I was 3 years old, I have had no reason to use a migration agent it would never have occurred to me to go down that path in fact I didn't even know such a service existed for long time residents.

Having been raised here I would have just assumed that the Dept of Immigration who give out the visas would be the ones to give out correct information about Visa's. Surely they don't issue them without having an understanding of what they are issuing and why.

Moneypenny mentioned my stupidity in not becoming a citizen in two separate posts. I get it I stuffed up and I have acknowledged the fact that I stuffed up, I am here asking for advice not to be told off. Comparing my situation to one where someone has broken the law and is seeking advice is not the same.

What I was hoping was that someone had applied for an Emergency travel document and could let me know their experience.