68MEVY

Hi, quick q for the bro in law.
He is due to go to the UK in 5 weeks time, until mid January. His British passport runs out in March and his wife believes he must have atleast 6 months left on his passport to be able to re enter Australia. Is this true and if so what can be done about it?
Cheers,
Marie

Luke I Amyofath

if his passport runs out in march its just as well he renew it in uk while hes there. He will get credit for the time left on his current passport i.e. expiry date of new passport will be a couple months over 10 years.

68MEVY

Cheers for that Luke. I don't suppose you know if that would affect his eta visa or anything to do with his flight tickets.
I know when you renew your passport you get your old one back so there wouldn't be a problem with his permanent residency visa being in his old passport.

Marie

JAJ

What do you mean by "ETA visa"? Is he a permanent resident or not? Permanent residents don't have ETAs.


Renewing the passport in the UK might not be such a smart idea because:
- it takes time; and
- then the visa will be in an old passport. It's still valid but many airline staff get confused by this and there's a good risk of delay/hassle at check-in while they try to get clearance from DIMIA in Australia. People have missed their flights to Australia for this reason.


In answer to your question, Australia does not have a '6 month rule' (and definitely not for permanent residents). However some countries in the Far East that one might want to travel through *do* have such a rule.


Simplest way to sort this out is:

1. Get a new passport now; and
2. Get the visa restamped in the new passport (at a DIMIA office, usually this is possible although not guaranteed) before leaving.

Check if the British High Commission in Canberra will prioritise a renewal because of his impending trip. They ought to but he will have to tell them.

Also - needless to say, he needs to look at his Australian visa to ensure it will give him the right to re-enter Australia.


Jeremy