Seeking Child Visa advice...101 or 802?

[Life3Oz]

Hello All,

 

Our child will be born in India in early July and we're having the baby through surrogacy. Both me and my husband are Permanent residents of Australia and citizens of India and live in Australia. We're seeking advice for the best and fastest possible way to bring the baby to Australia permanently in our circumstances.

One option is to apply for child visa 101 however we're worried about the the visa processing times mentioned on the website which is about 11-18 months. We might be able to apply for a visitor visa subsequent to the 101 application and come to Australia till the visa is processed and a decision is made by the immigration authority however staying away from Australia for more than 5-6 months will be extremely difficult for us as a family.

The other option which is also our preference is to do the onshore child visa 802 application however we're unsure if we'll be able to get a visitor visa for the baby without any conditions and then do the onshore visa application once the baby is here in Australia. If we're able to do the onshore visa application then we don't have to worry about the time required for visa processing.

 

If anyone can advice if they have been through a similar situation? how long it took for 101 application processing? or if anyone applied for baby's visitor and then done a 802 application onshore?

Any advice will be very helpful!

Thanks

[Skani]

You need independent legal advice for this:  it is not the same as bringing your own biological child into Australia and you will have to provide much more information.  In fact, in some Australian states (NSW, Queensland and the ACT) it is illegal to make such an arrangement outside Australia.  You will find information here :

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/become-a-citizen/by-descent/international-surrogacy-arrangements

 

[Life3Oz]

Hi Skani,

Thanks for your reply. 

We were aware of this and as we live in Victoria which allows engaging in surrogacy overseas, we went ahead with it. We sought help from an immigration lawyer however we were advised of both options of 101 or 802 hence I was seeking on the forum if anyone has been through similar situation and what worked best for them. We're aware about the additional documents regarding surrogacy that need to be provided with the application however if would like to know if documents like court order would also be required.

Many thanks!

[Marisawright]

27 minutes ago, Life3Oz said:

Hi Skani,

Thanks for your reply. 

We were aware of this and as we live in Victoria which allows engaging in surrogacy overseas, we went ahead with it. We sought help from an immigration lawyer however we were advised of both options of 101 or 802 hence I was seeking on the forum if anyone has been through similar situation and what worked best for them. We're aware about the additional documents regarding surrogacy that need to be provided with the application however if would like to know if documents like court order would also be required.

Many thanks!

Was the lawyer MARA registered?     If you paid him for advice then he should have told you whether a court order was necessary for Immigration or not, so I would go back and ask him - you paid him after all

Edited June 5, 2019 by Marisawright

[Indianinoz]

I have a similar case. 

Me and my wife are permanent residents and stuck overseas. We are expecting a baby in the next few days. As we are not citizens, child will not get Australian Citizenship or even PR automatically. We intend to fly back to Australia within 4-6 months after birth of the baby.

 

We have to choose between Visa 101(apply offshore i.e. from overseas) and Visa 802(apply onshore from Australia). If we choose Visa 802, we need to obtain visitor visa for the baby first and then apply Visa 802 from Australia. If we choose Visa 101, and if it is not processed within 3-4 months, then we need to obtain visa to fly to Australia. I would prefer to apply for Visa 101 right away. Though processing time for Visa 802 is shorter, Visa 101 will be applied about 6 months earlier than Visa 802. So it probably evens out.

 

Which is a better option and why?

[Quoll]

19 minutes ago, Indianinoz said:

I have a similar case. 

Me and my wife are permanent residents and stuck overseas. We are expecting a baby in the next few days. As we are not citizens, child will not get Australian Citizenship or even PR automatically. We intend to fly back to Australia within 4-6 months after birth of the baby.

 

We have to choose between Visa 101(apply offshore i.e. from overseas) and Visa 802(apply onshore from Australia). If we choose Visa 802, we need to obtain visitor visa for the baby first and then apply Visa 802 from Australia. If we choose Visa 101, and if it is not processed within 3-4 months, then we need to obtain visa to fly to Australia. I would prefer to apply for Visa 101 right away. Though processing time for Visa 802 is shorter, Visa 101 will be applied about 6 months earlier than Visa 802. So it probably evens out.

 

Which is a better option and why?

I would have thought that there might be risks with having a child on a tourist visa for the longer term - especially a new born with the potential need to access who knows what medical intervention (or, hopefully, none at all, of course).  Apply for the 101 - if it arrives in time you win, if not, maybe you can still travel with the baby on a tourist visa but then leave the country for a quick hop when it is issued.  Or, you could delay your departure until the visa is issued.  If you need to return for work, say, then perhaps you could go and your wife and child follow along afterwards when the visa is issued

[Indianinoz]

11 minutes ago, Quoll said:

I would have thought that there might be risks with having a child on a tourist visa for the longer term - especially a new born with the potential need to access who knows what medical intervention (or, hopefully, none at all, of course).  Apply for the 101 - if it arrives in time you win, if not, maybe you can still travel with the baby on a tourist visa but then leave the country for a quick hop when it is issued.  Or, you could delay your departure until the visa is issued.  If you need to return for work, say, then perhaps you could go and your wife and child follow along afterwards when the visa is issued

Thanks Quoll, I understand that for Visa 101 to be granted, the baby has to exit the country and come back. This is not a problem as we can make a same day return or next day return trip to say Fiji.

Question is whether Visa 101 is better than Visa 802 in my case? Applying for Visa 802 gives the baby bridging visa which is a major advantage but I still Visa 101 makes more sense in my case.

[Quoll]

1 hour ago, Indianinoz said:

Thanks Quoll, I understand that for Visa 101 to be granted, the baby has to exit the country and come back. This is not a problem as we can make a same day return or next day return trip to say Fiji.

Question is whether Visa 101 is better than Visa 802 in my case? Applying for Visa 802 gives the baby bridging visa which is a major advantage but I still Visa 101 makes more sense in my case.

It'd be the medical coverage that would be the most concern.  As a temporary on a bridging visa they might not receive the same level of care, who knows, but not something you would be wanting to muck about with.  So, yes, the 101 gives you more security than the bridging visa

[Indianinoz]

On 15/04/2022 at 12:58, Quoll said:

It'd be the medical coverage that would be the most concern.  As a temporary on a bridging visa they might not receive the same level of care, who knows, but not something you would be wanting to muck about with.  So, yes, the 101 gives you more security than the bridging visa

We are wanting to travel to Australia within 4-6 months of the birth of the baby. If we choose Visa 101, assuming we apply within a month of the baby's birth, and if we don't get the Visa approved within 3-4 months, we are going to apply for a visitor visa and fly to Australia. This would mean that we with Visa 101, we land up the risk of not having Medicare for a long time i.e. until Visa 101 is processed which may take anywhere between 8 months(25% applications processing time) to 36 months(90% applications processing time). Whereas with Visa 802, not only is the processing time shorter, we also get a bridging visa within 2-3 months after applying. This bridging visa at least gives some kind of Medicare.

So are you still sure that Visa 101 is best suited for us?

[Quoll]

2 hours ago, Indianinoz said:

We are wanting to travel to Australia within 4-6 months of the birth of the baby. If we choose Visa 101, assuming we apply within a month of the baby's birth, and if we don't get the Visa approved within 3-4 months, we are going to apply for a visitor visa and fly to Australia. This would mean that we with Visa 101, we land up the risk of not having Medicare for a long time i.e. until Visa 101 is processed which may take anywhere between 8 months(25% applications processing time) to 36 months(90% applications processing time). Whereas with Visa 802, not only is the processing time shorter, we also get a bridging visa within 2-3 months after applying. This bridging visa at least gives some kind of Medicare.

So are you still sure that Visa 101 is best suited for us?

Permanent residence is always better than being on a bridging visa. 

[Indianinoz]

2 hours ago, Quoll said:

Permanent residence is always better than being on a bridging visa. 

Of course. But I'm not sure if you've understood it totally. Even if I apply Visa 101, there is a good chance that the Visa won't be granted in 4-6 months after the birth of the baby. Which means if we choose Visa 101, then we might end up in Australia(through a tourist visa) with neither PR Visa nor Bridging Visa. Eventually, the child will get PR, but the processing time for Visa 101 is longer than Visa 802.

Processing time for Visa 101(offshore visa):

• 25% of applications: 8 months
• 50% of applications: 14 months
• 75% of applications: 25 months
• 90% of applications: 36 months

Processing time for Visa 802(onshore visa):

• 25% of applications: 6 months
• 50% of applications: 8 months
• 75% of applications: 10 months
• 90% of applications: 24 months

[Parley]

So just stay in India until you get the better visa.

A month or so is hardly material in the long term.

[Indianinoz]

1 hour ago, Parley said:

So just stay in India until you get the better visa.

A month or so is hardly material in the long term.

Which is the better visa? Visa 101 may take up to 36 months.

[psuwara]

On 17/04/2022 at 23:29, Indianinoz said:

Which is the better visa? Visa 101 may take up to 36 months.

In my opinion it's clear to get the 802, unless you want to stay in India while you wait for the VISA... There are a few options, I think it's best to speak to a migration agent about this. Because there are more options than what you have described here @Indianinoz

[Indianinoz]

2 hours ago, psuwara said:

In my opinion it's clear to get the 802, unless you want to stay in India while you wait for the VISA... There are a few options, I think it's best to speak to a migration agent about this. Because there are more options than what you have described here @Indianinoz

Thanks for your opinion. In our case, we want to live in Australia. But we prefer to wait by about 4-6 months after the birth of the baby to travel to Australia.

I don't there are visas other Visa 101 and Visa 802 for obtaining Child PR.