What Visa Does Baby Have?

By Author: dylan lautner
Total Articles: 133
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Are you wondering what would be the status of a child born in Australia to parents who only hold either a permanent or temporary Australia visa?

According to the Australian Citizenship Act, if a child is born in Australia to the holder of a permanent Australian visa, the child will, with very few exceptions, be automatically granted an Australian citizenship by birth.

Specifically, if your child is born after 20 August 1986, that child will only be considered as an Australian citizen if at least one parent was an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of their birth.

However, if your child is born in Australia, but you, as parents, are not Australian citizens or permanent residents, your child will only automatically acquire Australian citizenship on their 10th birthday if they have lived most of their life in Australia.

For most children born in Australia before August 20, 1986, they are considered Australian citizens by birth unless one parent was entitled to diplomatic privileges or was a consular officer of another country.

On the other hand, if your child is born outside ...
... Australia, but you are a holder of a permanent Australian visa, your child is NOT considered as an Australian citizen unless eligible (for example, by the other parent being an Australian citizen) to be registered as such, (see the Australian Citizenship Act). And, therefore it follows that your child will require an Australia visa, for example Child visa subclass 101, to be able to travel and remain in Australia with you.

The Child Visa (Subclass 101) is a permanent visa that allows a child under 25 years of age who wants to migrate to Australia to travel to and remain in Australia, with their parent who is also their sponsor. Under this visa, the sponsoring parent is required to be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen. This visa will enable the child to live permanently in Australia as well as allow the child to travel to and from Australia for five years from the date the visa is granted.

On another note, if your child is born in Australia but you are only a holder of a temporary Australia immigration visa, the child (if not an Australian citizen), according to the Migration Act 1958 s78, is taken to have been granted an Australian visa (or visas) of the same kind as its parent/s. And under the said policy, the child is regarded no differently from other family unit members. This means that if a further Australian visa is applied for, the child is subject to standard assessment against the applicable Schedule 4 health criterion.

In particular, Subject to the Regulations, if a child is born in Australia to a holder of a temporary Australian immigration visa, the child is then entitled to have the visa/s evidenced (see s70 of the Act and PAM3: Act - Passports, travel documents & visa evidencing - Visa evidencing).

However, in accordance to policy (supporting case audit requirements), the parent is required to complete a standard Australian visa application form in favor of the child. (Take no that no visa application charge is payable as the completion of the form is not intended to constitute an application under s45 of the Act.) And in cases where both parents are holders of temporary Australian visas (and, thus it follows that the child holds two Australian visas), the officers may seek advice from the Legal Opinions Help Desk if uncertain as to how to evidence both visas under s71.