Dreaming_when Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 (edited) (asking for a friend) Hi, My friend, his spouse and first child hold PR visas. As he runs his own business, they decided it would be best for the spouse and first child return to the country of origin to be with family for the delivery towards the end of 2019. The 2nd child was born and they applied for a Child Visa. It’s still pending approval at the Australian High Commission and it’s been now close to 6 months without an answer. With the border closures due to COVID-19, his family is stuck overseas awaiting the visa approval for the newborn. In the last month or so, my friend has also qualified to apply for citizenship by conferral. The question is, can he include both children in his application as dependents? Correct me if I’m wrong, but is it only the main applicant that needs to meet the eligibility criteria? And also, can he include the kids who are currently “stuck” overseas in his application while they are overseas? Is there a requirement that the kids have to be in Australia when applying? Thanks in advance. Edited June 21, 2020 by Dreaming_when Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Children aged 15 years or under may be included in their responsible parent’s application at no charge when applying at the same time and on the same form. Note that a child cannot be added to a responsible parent’s application after it has been lodged. Under policy, the child is expected to be residing in Australia with the responsible parent who included the child in their application. It might pay your friend to seek professional advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreaming_when Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 20 hours ago, wrussell said: Children aged 15 years or under may be included in their responsible parent’s application at no charge when applying at the same time and on the same form. Note that a child cannot be added to a responsible parent’s application after it has been lodged. Under policy, the child is expected to be residing in Australia with the responsible parent who included the child in their application. It might pay your friend to seek professional advice. Thanks for the input @wrussell It certainly isn’t straight forward and them being stuck overseas due to the border closures just complicates it further. I will advise that he seek some professional advice as suggested. kind regards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 What I quoted you was immigration department policy, not law. If you are going to seek advice make sure you have it in writing from an authoritatve source. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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