IT angel

So I'm finding this process difficult to understand and was hoping someone out there has been through this and can help! My partner and I have PR and have recently had a baby born in Aus. We want to get him an aussie passport but are struggling with understanding what documents we need to provide to prove his eligibility. Since we are not citizens we know that we have to get a 'citizenship certificate' from immigration, the problem is that they're asking for photo ID for the baby which we don't have. Seems like we're stuck in a catch 22 situation, no ID, no passport. Anyone get around this issue? Thanks in advance.

Yes thanks Pom Queen - got PR

Your empathy astounds me

Thanks Parley Cross (and others) I hope I will - I'm only in my thirties!?! Anyway I think the whole inter-continental relationship element and wanting different things added to our breakup but it wasn't the only reason - if it's meant be, it's meant to be right.

Hey all I have posted on here a few times looking for clarity. I have been living in the UK for the past 4 years but previously Melbourne for 4 years before that. Recently in the past 6 months things came to a head with my OH (who is aussie) and we broke up. We just couldn't agree on where we wanted to live - me desperate to get out of the UK and back to Melbourne, while he was loving everything the UK had to offer. Weirdly when we broke up I considered staying in the UK as I wasn't sure what Oz had to offer me without him - but now I've had a few months to consider it, I really want to go and live my dream and not have to compromise for someone else. I hope this doesn't make me selfish - and I wonder if my ex OH had been a different person I would have been content with the UK? I guess I'll never know. I'm waiting to rent out my flat here, tie up some loose ends and hopefully be out there late January 2015, slightly cr*pping myself about doing it alone but I guess life is all about adventures really. Not sure why I'm posting this, but would be up for meeting some fellow poms in Melbourne when I finally make the move :-)

Hi I'm wondering what are people's experience with getting a RRV - how lenient are immigration? I left to come back to the UK in 2010 and have been here since. My PR is due to lapse in May 2015 and so I only spent about 6 months there as a permie. (albeit spending 4 years prior to that on various visas). To complicate matters my relationship with my Australian OH has just broken down so I am struggling how I could list 'compelling family ties' to Australia (if I don't go back before May 2015)..Any help or advice would be appreciated. In an ideal world I would like to maintain my Aussie PR but have issues to sort out in the UK before I can commit to living there fully. Thanks

Just resurrecting this old thread of mine. Just wondered if anyone had been in a similar position as me. In a nut shell :-)...... I am British in a defacto relationship with an Aussie for 8 years. We met in Oz and lived there until 2010, since then we have been in the UK - so all up we have lived together for just over 7 yrs. I still have Aus PR which runs until 2015 unless we go back. (I really don't want to have to get a RRV!) NB -I should add that we are making arrangements to go back permantly to live in Melbourne in the next 6 months but am waivering as I would love to secure a job before we go - I don't just want to get citizenship and go back to the UK!!)... I want to get citizenship but is this possible whilst outside of Oz? If not is it possible to apply when I go back straight away and bypass the residence time rule - I have found this info thanks to RockDr on the immi website - If you are the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, or surviving spouse or partner of an Australian citizen at the time you make your application, and you spent time outside Australia as a permanent resident in the 4 years immediately before making your application, you may treat those periods of absence as time in Australia if, during each period of absence: • you were the spouse or de facto partner of that Australian citizen, and • they were an Australian citizen, and • you maintained a close and continuing association with Australia The bit I wonder about is 'close and continuing association with australia' - p.s does anyone know a good migration agent in Sussex? Thanks all!

Thanks everyone for the replies.. I think it's really difficult for people who aren't in the same predicament to understand what it's like. My OH is Aussie and I'm British so we will always have a pull in both directions due to where we grew up and family ties. What makes it even more complicated for us is the fact that I have a PR visa which, unless I'm in Oz in about 12 months time will expire and I'll have to obtain a Resident Return Visa. I know people get these visas all the time, but by then I will have spent the last 4 out of the 5 years outside Australia. I just don't want to risk it and have the hassle of re-applying. I would definately like to be back and then be able to apply for my Citizenship when the time comes. The other consideration is that my OH now has Indefinate Leave to remain in the UK but in order to keep this he needs to return every 2 years. The initial plan was to stay and for him to get his British citizenship but that would mean staying for another 2 years which would then see my Aus PR visa lapse...It ain't simple! Anyway we have made the decision to go back to Oz at end of next year with the intention of keeping our options open for him and coming back for a visit to the UK every 2 years to keep his visa ticking over. To me it doesnt make sense to get his citizenship and for me to potentially lose my PR if we are going to live in Oz permantly. I first went to Oz to try it out on a working holiday visa, never really thinking about staying forever. It wasn't until I met my OH that I started thinking that way. I never hated living in Oz the first time, but I did sometimes feel very far away from the rest of the world. I think for me I needed to live in the UK with my OH to 'get it out of my system' so to speak, so that we could make an informed decision about where we want to live in the long term. Funnily enough when I was in Oz and came to the UK for a holiday I felt like an alien in my own country - everyone was saying I sounded like an Aussie and I felt so disconnected from everything I grew up with. And now we're living in the UK I don't hate it per se, but I find living in the cold weather hard, the long winters/darkness and the lack of outside living get to me. I guess I do feel different and found it hard to 'slot' back into my old life. People sometimes mistake me for an Aussie and say 'so what part of Australia are you from?!' It does feels like friends have moved on, family - don't really see them and they don't make the effort. Also in the industry I work in all the jobs are London based so I'm commuting for about 3-4 hours a day. (I lived in London and didn't really enjoy it). I know in Melbourne I could live about a half hour to an hour's commute from work and still earn more money! You're right, my OH is great and supportive, although it is definately me that is driving the move back to Oz. He's really liked living in the UK as he loves the proximity to Europe and gets to travel heaps for his job, he loves the history and the ye olde English pubs. Whenever I used to mention going back to Oz he'd roll his eyes and say 'Why? it's full of bogan Australians!'..slightly tongue in cheek baring in mind he is an aussie. His main worry is that we'll get back to Oz and I'll be wishing I was back in blighty - and I guess deep down I'm a bit worried that I'll never be happy where-ever we are. I have a good feeling though that this time I'll be able to settle a bit more and lay down some roots knowing that we wont be uplifting everything to move again.

Hey all After much deliberation have decided to return to oz for a second time. I have posted on here before but was wondering if anyone else had done a similar thing. I first went to Melbourne in 2006 where I met my OH who is an aussie. Lived there until 2010 as got itchy feet and wanted to show OH where I grew up etc. Been living in England now for 3 years and can honestly say I felt like I had made a massive mistake coming back even after just a few days of being here. Anyway, my OH doesn't really mind where we live as long as I am happy (bless him). So we decided to do another 8-12 months here and then head back to Melbourne. I can't wait and am already planning the move! One thing that worries me is that I will go through the same thing that happened here when back in oz and wish I was back here?! I am really trying to not see it through rose tinted specs and think that there will be ups and downs..I guess I'm rambling now but would be interested in hearing of other people's experiences of their second stint. For me this is going to be the last time I move countries!

Hi, Hoping someone out there can help me! My boyfriend (Australian) and I (British) have been living in the UK together since 2010. We had already been together for 4 years in Australia when we came to the UK. Obviously, for me there were no issues, but for my BF he had to get an umarried partner visa. This came through fine and in Feb this year he got his indefinite leave to remain. Now, here's the thing, when he first started the process he was told that after having indefinite leave to remain for 1 year, he could apply for citizenship...However, I can't find anywhere on the home office website where it says this. I know the rules have changed recently, however as he first got his visa in 2010 he should be excempt from these changes, right? However, I still can't find anywhere that mentions the 'unmarried' part, it's all married or even civil partnership. Does anyone know how long he has to wait, is it 1 year after ILR or 5 years from entering the UK? We are confused. Any help would be really appreciated. Cheers!

Thanks RockDr, I checked out the citizenship form and it says quote below: I wonder if anyone has spent as long as I have outside and then been able to get citizenship?! The issue for me would be "maintaining a close and continuing association with Australia" as that could be open to interpretation.... If you are the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, or are the surviving spouse or partner of an Australian citizen at the time you make your application,you may treat periods of time spent outside Australia as a permanent resident as time in Australia if your spouse or de facto partner was an Australian citizen during those periods of absence and you can demonstrate that you maintained a close and continuing association with Australia during those periods of absence for

Thanks RockDr. I just had a look on the citizenship site and it clearly states that you need to have lived in Australia for the 4 years prior to lodging an application. It only allows for 12 months out of the country. :-(

Thanks for all the replies guys. I know it would be alot easier if I went back before my current 5 year PR visa expires, however my boyfriend is wanting to get citizenship in the UK so we have to wait for that and that means living in the UK for another 1.5 years ish. I'm not sure how DIAC will look upon our case as it seems to be on an individual case, however, we have been together for almost 7 years (4 in Oz, 3 in UK) and about 6 and half of those living together. We definately want to go back to Oz permanently but to me it makes sense if we both have the freedom to travel/live in each other's respective countries so that is why my OH wants to get UK citizenship. The compelling reasons for why I wasn't in Oz is tricky - I came back for a job which came up and to be honest I was suffering from itchy feet after being in Oz for 4 years and thought moving back would be a good move. Also my sister was having a baby in UK and had him prematurely so it was great that I was around to help out. I'm not sure if DIAC will care if my OH wanted to get citizenship in the UK - maybe that will even go against him as they'll just assume we'll move back to the UK? Maybe i'm overthinking all of this!!! I thought you had to be living in Oz to get citizenship? If I can apply for it in UK then that would be amazing - I will look into it. Just to clarify I would move back to Melbourne tomorow if possible! But respect my partners decision to want to wait. :-)

Hi Bogan Bear Thanks for the reply. I have 1 sister in Australia who has citizenship but 2 siblings in UK. As I mentioned my boyfriend is Australian and has sister and parents in Oz. You have me worried now!

Hi everyone Just wondered if anyone had any similar experience of my situation. I am British and am currently living in the UK but live in Oz for 4 years, came back in 2010. Howver, I do have plans to go back to Oz in a few years permanantly. My situation is that I have a permanant residency in Oz however it is under the terms of the defacto partner visa (my boyfriend is Australian). I got it in early 2010 (5 years) however it expires in 2015 and I've been back in the UK since late 2010 . What I want to know is if I don't go back in that timeframe, will I have a problem getting a resident return visa? Will it count against me that I left Oz? Does anyone have experience of this at all? Thanks in advance!