anita keogh

Hope someone can give some guidance - we are having our first baby in November in England. I am Australian and my partner is English. We are intending on moving to Oz mid next year, as my partner has qualified for, and received a 2 year entry visa.Can anyone give advice on the following complications:
a) visa must be used by mid november, and that is not likely given due date of 8 November......... Oz embassy will not tell us at present if his visa can be extended without having to reapply or pay again - any ideas?
b) will the baby be Australian or English? How is this determined?
c) will we need to get married for the baby to get both passports? and can this be done in fact?
Any pointers to help sort out this tangled mess that anyone can give will be greatly appreciated.......
Anita

tinaj

Unless you are have British Citizenship your baby will be considered Australian and only be able to get an Australian Passport.

A baby of an unmarried couple always follows the mother's citizenship. And as I am sure you know just because you are born in a country it doesn't automatically mean you are a citizen!

For you babe to get a British Passport as well as an Aussie one you will either have to get British Citizenship yourself or apply through your partner. I wouldn't think you have to get married that seems a bit outdated, but I can't confirm this.

Good luck!


Tina

janeyray

I am Australian and my daughter was born in the UK, she has Australian citizenship by decent and British citizenship by birth, your daughter will be able to get Australian Nationality by decent as you were born there, you can apply for the citizenship at Australia house in London. hope this helps?

Jolyn

I'm Aussie too, married to British husband. Your son can get dual nationality without any fuss.

I think in Britain even if you're unmarried your baby can get British citizenship fine if it's British father is listed on the Birth Certificate. Check this with the Home Office and make sure you jump through all the required hoops. It's not a problem if you're married so I'm not sure about the unmarried situation. Britain can be a bit archaic. If all else fails, get married before your baby arrives and change your visa to a spouse one with full UK residency rights at the Home Office, then it's straightforward - automatic British citizenship for your baby.

We got our son his British passport first. After registering the birth (which everyone has to do to confirm the name) you can apply for your baby's British passport using the basic form from the Post Office.

The Australian side is straightforward. We registered our son for Australian citizenship by descent. You get the form from the Australian High Commission. Once that's through you can get your baby an Australian passport too.

Your partner's visa will probably not be extendable so a quick flight there and back to validate is probably the thing to do.

Why did you not apply for a Spouse visa for Australia for your partner? These are obtainable even if you're not married if you can prove your relationship is ongoing. This is particularly straightforward if you have a child together and the father is named on the birth certificate. No work details or anything much else required.

The Spouse visa takes up to 4 months to process so maybe you should let the current visa lapse and apply for a Spouse visa once your baby has arrived. Check the website at www.immi.gov.au for spouse visa details to see if you can provide the required proof.

A spouse visa is much easier to use - multiple entry visa for 5 years and citizenship can be obtained if your partner lives in Oz for at least two years of that.

We were also told by the Australian High Commission that Aussie immigration does not like people coming on independent visas if they're actually 'spouses', unmarried or not. Spouses have no quota on them, independent visas come out of the quota so someone else is missing out on a place. I got the same stick from British immigration for staying in the UK on a working visa after I was married instead of changing visa status.

Best wishes - if I can be of any other help just ask.

anita keogh

Thanks for yor helpful suggestions - we may in fact just go down under and have the baby born there, thereby negating all questions! But of course bringing with it a whole set of new ones - like how do we get registered there and will we be covered by Medicare etc Blimey life is complicated suddenly! If you happen to know anything about any of these areas - then please let me know!
Cheers
Anita

Jolyn

Hi Anita,

What a lot of stuff to work out while your brain is fuzzy with preggy hormones!

Medicare will cover you from the minute you arrive in Oz so no problem there. The trick is the timing. It's not good to fly long haul before 3 months pregnant or much after 6 months pregnant - if you can find an airline that will take you after 24 weeks. Not good to fly with a baby under 3 months either.

The lower level of oxygen in the air on commercial airliners is the problem. You need plenty of oxygen when pregnant - you're breathing for 2! - and so does a newborn baby. The chance of premature labour is raised dramatically by flying late in pregnancy. It's cheaper for airlines to keep the oxygen level lower than what you're used to breathing on land and it keeps the passengers a bit drowsy too which is less hassle for the cabin crew. There are lots of websites with information about this.

I'm not sure I would want to change doctors/hospitals in late pregnancy either, once you've done the labour ward tours and figured out what you want. Think "The most important thing is a healthy baby" when doing the hospital tours and try to ignore the look of the places. Go for a big NHS teaching hospital if in the UK. They may look scruffy and the level of TLC and handholding (and the food!) is not great but the medical staff do know their stuff which is the important thing. The private hospitals look glossy but they transfer you to the NHS if anything goes wrong anyway and the delay is not ideal.

I was tired enough in late pregnancy without adding in jetlag, looking for a place to stay, packing etc. If it was me I would wait until your baby is sleeping through the night (3 months maybe?) and you're starting to feel human again, then go. If you've got enough money to live for a few months, get your partner to quit work before the baby arrives too so you can enjoy the early weeks together and you can really get into being a family. The extra pair of hands would be a big help as well!

If you're not married and your baby is born in Oz I'm not sure how to get the baby British nationality and it would be handy to have both. Ask the Home Office I guess.

Good luck,

Jo

anita keogh

Hi Jo

Thanks for your note.

We may well stay in UK - partner is now worried his folks will miss out on all the fun!

We hope that Oz immigration will let us extend his visa long enough to pop out there for a visit with the Bubbster , which will then take that worry off our radar!
Cant beleive how suddenly complicated out life has become with this impending bundle! We are normally very calm and laid back etc, but this situation (along with the fact that we will have to move house if we stay) is causing the hormones to do their thing thats for sure!

We are booked into Queen Charlottes and Chelsea (which confusingly is in Hammersmith) and its fairly new so still getting good feedback.

So fingers crossed for us to get it all sorted - thanks for having taken the time to respond1
Anita