Hi,
Please can somebody help us. I am a Brit (with PR) and my partner is aussie. Our baby girl was born outside aus but has a british passport. I was advised to bring her into aus on a tourist visa then apply for citizenship by descent once we got here. We have submitted the citizenship application but apparently it can take up to 4-5months which takes us into december or beyond. Meanwhile, she is on a evisitor (subclass 651) which states on it that the length of stay is "3months from the date of entry". It was granted on the 5th of July but we entered aus on the 20th July so technically she needs to leave and re-enter by the 20th of October. Is this right? Because on the immigration website i am told the visa is 12months in total.
Is there any way around this situation or must we seriously fly out and re-enter the country with our 8month old baby by the 20th oct? There is no email address where we can ask such questions to immigration, the office in perth does not allow enquiries and the phone line was 132 people in the queue when i called, so I am really lost as to what to do next. I don't want to get a fine or compromise the citizenship application due to breaking the rules but it seems absurd that a baby must leave and re-enter the country while we wait for her citizenship.
Any advice or words of wisdom from people experiencing similar issues would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!