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Flying back to UK with newborn- getting baby a British passport


AussieBaby

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Hi, my husband and I are both British citizens and are having a baby in Melbourne, due in a couple of months. I want to know how quickly we can get a British passport/ allowance to fly baby back home to the UK? We probably won't want to fly back till baby is about 6 weeks anyway, but I just want to know how quickly we can get the paperwork sorted and what we need to be able to fly home with our baby. Thanks.

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You need to get a birth cert first, which is a state thing so you'll have to check with VIC govt. We had a baby 2 months ago in NSW and the birth cert took 3 weeks, but they'll do one in a hurry up in about a week I think. Then apply for a UK passport for the baby, which are all done via Australia Post these days (they go to NZ for processing). Takes about a month.

 

​6 weeks is probably as quick as you could do it tbh

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Northshore- thanks for that, I'd guessed it would take about that long. I just feel pretty uneasy knowing that if something goes wrong with family in the UK we would be stuck here for 2-3 months after I'm 36 weeks pregnant. Hope your baby is doing well.

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What kind of visa are you on? Our bub, born here, was automatically a citizen and we could apply for an Aussie passport which was done quickly. I did the British one at a later date. But I don't think all visas allow babies to be Aussie citizens by birth. I'm sure someone on here will be along to clarify...

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Thanks, I knew there were some restrictions. Yes Aussie birth cert which took us less than a week to receive and then get the Aussie passport, will be quicker I'm sure. You can pay for express service too.

 

​I was unlucky enough to have to do a mercy dash with my 6 week old, back to the UK and had to apply for her Aussie passport as an emergency. The people at the Perth passport office in the city were amazing, so compassionate and it was done and ready for collection in 2 hours!

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We have an E457 visa, so pretty sure our baby (we're both Brits) will not be entitled to an Aussie passport. The quickest way, I guess, will be to get an Aussie birth certificate and then a British passport. Does anyone know how long a birth certificate usually takes here?

Mrs LZB, I dread having to do a similar dash back to the UK, however may need to, so wanting to be as prepared in advance to figure out the logistics.

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Definitely a good plan to be prepared. It only took a matter of days for our baby's birth certificate to arrive. We are in Perth. I seem to remember my OH sent off the necessary documents and within a week we had the cert. And yes, 457 visa means baby doesn't get citizenship. We just did a UK passport for our daughter and it was here within about 2-3 weeks I think.

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Thanks for all the helpful info. Mrs LZB, good to know a Birtish passport only took 2-3 weeks. From looking at the Vic Gov website it looks like you can go in person to their Melbourne site and get a birth certificate on the day. I guess it might be a long queue there, but quicker than sending it off.

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Getting the birth certificate for our little boy (born 12 weeks ago) actually took longer than the passport! I seem to remember it being around 2/3 weeks to get it, then we took it along to the Post Office, along with the other bots we needed and got the passport back less than a fortnight later. I'm sure this varies though depending on demand.

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