andy & jayne

We sent our passports off last week to have the visas put in. But on sending them off we realised that the passports for our 3 childrn all expire in March 06 (the same time as we have to in Australia!).

We have a business to sell which might not be finalised by March 06 so we have decided to (all 5 of us!) fly out to Australia to validate our visas.

2 questions:

1. To save money we have decided that me & the 3 kids will fly one way and stay there and Andy flies back to finalise everything! But Andy is the main applicant so will I be able to stay without him??

2. To fly out to Australia do we need 6 months validity on our passports??

Please help! Arghhhhh!

Jayne

Pollyana

As long as he enters first (even jist by being before you in the queue) then you can certainly stay without him. Its just the first entry that matters.
I would recommend getting new passports before you leave the UK, for the somple reason that its quicker and cheaper!

JAJ

This is true, but in the circumstances now that visas have been stamped, it may be better to get new passports after arriving in Australia.

It should be possible to get a new visa stamp in Australia, it's near-impossible in London, and travelling with a visa in an old passport carries a risk of a check-in delay if airline staff don't understand DIMIA policy.


Jeremy

JAJ

If you have permanent visas there is no '6 month rule' - you just need a valid passport or other acceptable travel document. As far as I know.


However - some of the places in the Far East that you might want to stop-over in *do* have such a rule.


Jeremy

andy & jayne

So if we flew with Singapore Airlines (but with no stop over) and re-fuelled in Singapore would the 6 month rule apply then??

Jayne x

JAJ

I don't know if Singapore apply the rule to airside transit passengers who don't go through passport control (if they did you might be refused permission to board the flight).

I suggest you get advice *in writing* from the airline.



Jeremy