urs_kemmann

Hi,

My question is in relation to re-entering Australia with a newborn that doesn't have the Australian passport yet.

We live in Sydney and have received the German passport for the baby already, so my assumption is that we'll be able to board our flight to Germany on Tuesday and enter Germany (to be confirmed with airlines).

Since there was an error with our application for the baby's Australian passport, this has dragged on. Our first attempts to get a temporary one has also been rejected (again, for reasons we don't agree with but not worth explaining here). We're now running out of time and might not be able to get the temporary Australian one either before our flight this Tuesday.

Provided Jetstar will take us to Phuket and Emirates from Phuket to Frankfurt, does anyone know what we need to expect when trying to re-enter Australia without an Australian passport for the baby once we return?

Quick responses will be appreciated and massive thanks in advance to anyone who can provide advise.

Regards,

Urs

BritInParis

Have you registered your baby as an Australian citizen by descent already? If so they'll need an Australian passport to enter and exit Australia as DIBP cannot grant them a visa in their German passport. The only alternative would be to request an 'uplift' from DIBP at check-in. Your airline will need to call the Entry Operations Centre in Canberra to do so. The 24/7 number is +61 1300 368 126.

urs_kemmann

Thanks a lot for the reply, BritInParis. Apologies, I should have mentioned that myself and my partner (defacto) are both Germans living in Sydney on a PR. So the baby isn't Austalian by descent, but for the fact he was born to two PR holders. Does this still allow for the option to 'uplift' from DIBP at check-in and could you elaborate on that option, i.e. what does 'uplift' actually mean in this case?

Bermudashorts

Have you got official proof of citizenship for the baby? This would need to be done before you can get Australian passport anyway. At least it would be something to wave at the immigration officer as you leave. Could you then get the Aussie passport whilst you are in Germany?

BritInParis

Sorry, wrote that answer in the wee hours of the morning. So your baby is Australian by birth. Well, he or she can probably leave Australia on a German passport without causing a problem at the border. Getting back in would be more difficult.

It would either require you to obtain an Evidence of Australian Citizenship certificate (if you haven't already) and then apply for their Australian passport from Germany or go down the uplift route already mentioned. For the latter it would be better if you had the certificate issued either if you didn't have the passport.

If you don't have the certificate yet then a third and less official option would to just apply for a subclass 651 eVisitor visa for your baby from Germany and wing it back in that way. If it's granted you'll get to the Australian border but you'll probably get a telling-off from the border officer on your way back in.

urs_kemmann

At this stage, we've added more evidence to our urgent passport request.

We plan to resubmit the application for the Citizenship Certificate on Monday, so that we can maintain the option to continue the application for the Aussie passport from Germany (presumably through Australian Consulate General Frankfurt).

As a side note, I wonder if the urgent passport request means you skip the Citizen Certificate, which seems a bit strange.

I was just lucky enough to get through to a gentleman at border control and he confirmed that leaving Australia shouldn't be an issue. He advised it might take slightly longer as they will need to add the German passport to their system.

He wasn't excited about the idea to return my son on a tourist visa (although he didn't sound like that wouldn't work either) and recommended we try to obtain the passport through the Consulate General while in Germany. We will pursue this option further if the urgent passport request doesn't go through.

Thanks for your help, I think this topic can be closed.

Bermudashorts

If you have been trying to get a passport without the certificate of citizenship, well then there is your problem. You MUST get the citizenship certificate first, you won't get passport without it, put all your efforts int getting that.