chunkycr

I am applying for a migrants visa for my daughter who is currently 10 weeks old

We are currently resident in the UK and are planning our migration to Australia at the end of this year. My Partner, son and I have been granted our permanent residents visas and “activated� them recently during a 3 weeks visit to Australia.

We were granted our migrants visas before my daughter was born, hence the separate application for her.

I have completed form 47CH "Application for migration to Australia by a child" & form 40CH. (not sent them yet)

I am not certain as to whether the form 40CH “Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia� is relevant to us. Firstly because we are still living in the UK and are planing to move later this year. Also, as I mentioned my daughter is only 10 weeks old and she will be migrating to Australia at the same time as the rest of us, where as a family we will set up together.

Also, do i really have to lodge a sperate application for my 10 weeks old daughter????!!! it'll cost around £400

Am i doing the right forms???

ANy advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Claire

JAJ

Your daughter does not have a visa to live in Australia, and yes, it will cost you money to get one. And you have to fill out form 40CH, 47CH etc - the baby will need a medical too.

PR status does not pass by descent - that's why you now need to sponsor for Dependent Child migration. There is no alternative, and (with respect) if that's inconvenient it's something you ought to have considered beforehand.

If your child had been born in Australia she would have been an Australian citizen automatically and there would be no need for visas.

I hope you validated your visas *before* your child was born - if not, you need to get some urgent professional advice.

Permanent residents are expected to *live* in Australia. That's why there's automatic citizenship for children born to PRs in Australia, but the concession does not extend to those outside Australia.

You should at least be thankful that DIMIA do not expect sponsors for child visas to be 'usually resident' in Australia, which was the case before 1 November 2003.

If you've not already downloaded and read the Child migration booklet from the DIMIA website, you should do so.

Jeremy

dazandreb

This seems extreme, I can't believe that the child cannot be added the application without having to go through all this paperwork too add a baby to the visa.

Good job the rules have changed after 1 Nov 2003, what would she have been expected to do! go live in Australia, leave baby here whilst she apply for residency!

No wonder people give up and decide to stay in UK

JAJ

You are not adding the baby to the visa - you're applying for a *new* visa. This involves costs for DIMIA in assessing the application, and the Australian community feels these costs should be recovered from visa applicants themselves.

Although dependent child applications are normally simpler than many others, the visa application fee is not set on this basis.

Before 1 November 2003, one parent (if not an Australian citizen) was expected to return to Australia, establish residence, and sponsor the child from there.

That's still the position in Canada. Many Canadian PRs from countries like India tend to go 'home' to have their baby born, and only then discover that they cannot sponsor the baby for residence while outside Canada.


There's a simple way to avoid the hassles - have the child born in Australia.

One of the success factors for a migration to Australia is a willingness to 'think Australian'. If Australia is going to be your new home, it makes a lot of sense to have your child born there.

If you don't then there is a visa solution available. That's as much as Australia can be realistically expected to do.

Jeremy