Returning Resident Visa during COVID

[SamanthaH]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice regarding getting a Returning Resident Visa and moving back to Australia whilst COVID is still going on.  I want to move back with my family in July/August time. I previously had PR but left Australia six years ago, so it has expired now.  My Husband is an Australian Citizen and we have been back to Oz three time for holidays over the six years.  Does anyone know whether this would be a fairly straightforward RRV application or whether it will take a long time to process?  I’ve seen some posts on here that sound like the processing times vary greatly and I’m not sure when to submit my application.  Once the RRV is granted, what is the validity on the visa?  Whilst we plan to move in July/August, COVID could delay that and I don’t want it to expire before I’ve had a chance to get over there.

Also, we were planning to apply for Australian Passports for our children, (2 and 5 years), before we left the UK but it looks like the London passport office is closed and that will not be possible.  Does anyone know which visa we should apply for our children?

Thank you in advance, any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Marisawright]

5 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

I want to move back with my family in July/August time. I previously had PR but left Australia six years ago, so it has expired now.  My Husband is an Australian Citizen and we have been back to Oz three time for holidays over the six years.  Does anyone know whether this would be a fairly straightforward RRV application or whether it will take a long time to process? .....Once the RRV is granted, what is the validity on the visa? 

Also, we were planning to apply for Australian Passports for our children, (2 and 5 years), before we left the UK but it looks like the London passport office is closed and that will not be possible.  Does anyone know which visa we should apply for our children?

If you meet the residency criteria for a RRV, it gets processed in a matter of days.  If you don't, it needs special consideration and may be refused.   According to an agent on a recent post, it takes about three months to come through.  Although you're way beyond the usual limit, I think you'd have a good chance of it going smoothly, with a husband and two kids who are Australian.

Worst case scenario is a RRV that's valid for only three months.  It's much more usual to get one that's valid for a year.

You can't get visas for children who are Australian.   I'm not sure what the procedure would be, but you can email passports.lhlh@dfat.gov.au to find out.

[paulhand]

15 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice regarding getting a Returning Resident Visa and moving back to Australia whilst COVID is still going on.  I want to move back with my family in July/August time. I previously had PR but left Australia six years ago, so it has expired now.  My Husband is an Australian Citizen and we have been back to Oz three time for holidays over the six years.  Does anyone know whether this would be a fairly straightforward RRV application or whether it will take a long time to process?  I’ve seen some posts on here that sound like the processing times vary greatly and I’m not sure when to submit my application.  Once the RRV is granted, what is the validity on the visa?  Whilst we plan to move in July/August, COVID could delay that and I don’t want it to expire before I’ve had a chance to get over there.

Also, we were planning to apply for Australian Passports for our children, (2 and 5 years), before we left the UK but it looks like the London passport office is closed and that will not be possible.  Does anyone know which visa we should apply for our children?

Thank you in advance, any advice is greatly appreciated!

I would be looking to lodge an application fairly soon if you want to head back in July/August. As Marissa says, an RRV would be valid for a year and likely take 2-3 months to process. 
 

If the children are already Australian citizens then they should travel on Aussie passports. The AHC in London are generally helpful in facilitating this. 

[SamanthaH]

Hi Paul and Marisa,

Thank you both for your advice.

Just to check, by validity, do you mean that I will have 12 months to enter Australia once the RRV is granted?

In terms of our children, they only have British Passports at this stage.  They are entitled to apply for Australian passports as my Husband is Australian, but looking at the AHC website for London, their offices are currently closed due to COVID, so I don't think we are able to get Australian passports for them until we get to Australia.  If we only have British passports for them at our time of arrival in Australia, do they need a visa to enter and if so, do you know which one?

Thanks again for your help.

Samantha

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

Just to check, by validity, do you mean that I will have 12 months to enter Australia once the RRV is granted?

In terms of our children, they only have British Passports at this stage.  They are entitled to apply for Australian passports as my Husband is Australian, but looking at the AHC website for London, their offices are currently closed due to COVID, so I don't think we are able to get Australian passports for them until we get to Australia.

Yes, you will have 12 months to enter Australia.

The London offices are closed to visitors but they are still working.   They ask you to contact them at the email address I gave, and they will advise what you need to do (passports.lhlh@dfat.gov.au)

Edited March 3, 2021 by Marisawright

[SamanthaH]

Hi Marisa,

Thank you for your reply.

I have emailed the email address you provided and they said that they could not assist me as my children had not yet been registered as Australia Citizens.  They told me that I can only apply for Australian Passports for them once they have been registered as Australian Citizens by Descent with the Department of Home Affairs.  Is that your understanding as well?  I looked on the Department of Home Affairs website and it has given a waiting time of 5 months for 75% of applications to be granted registration as an Australian Citizen by Descent, which seems like a long process to go through before you can even start applying for an Australian Passport.

Thanks again.

Samantha

[paulhand]

7 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

They told me that I can only apply for Australian Passports for them once they have been registered as Australian Citizens by Descent with the Department of Home Affairs.  Is that your understanding as well? 

Yes ... if the kids were born outside Australia you need to apply for, and be granted, citizenship by descent before they become citizens and can apply for a passport. 

[Marisawright]

8 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

Hi Marisa,

Thank you for your reply.

I have emailed the email address you provided and they said that they could not assist me as my children had not yet been registered as Australia Citizens.  They told me that I can only apply for Australian Passports for them once they have been registered as Australian Citizens by Descent with the Department of Home Affairs.  Is that your understanding as well?  I looked on the Department of Home Affairs website and it has given a waiting time of 5 months for 75% of applications to be granted registration as an Australian Citizen by Descent, which seems like a long process to go through before you can even start applying for an Australian Passport.

Thanks again.

Samantha

They are right, I didn't realise you hadn't applied for their citizenship at birth.

The problem is that the only visa you can get for them is a visitor visa, and holders of visitor visas are not allowed into Australia currently.   So they will need a travel exemption as well as the visa.  

[SamanthaH]

Hi Marisa and Paul,

Thank you both for your replies.

The Citizenship by Descent Application processing times may take too long for our plans. 

With the travel exemption and visa option, what class of visa would they need? Are they making exceptions on visitor visas for immediate family members of Australian citizens? Do you know if children of Australian citizens are fairly easily able to get travel exemptions or it's a difficult process and unlikely to be issued?

Thank you again, I really appreciate your help.

Best wishes,

Samantha

[Marisawright]

6 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

With the travel exemption and visa option, what class of visa would they need? Are they making exceptions on visitor visas for immediate family members of Australian citizens? Do you know if children of Australian citizens are fairly easily able to get travel exemptions or it's a difficult process and unlikely to be issued?

Thank you again, I really appreciate your help.

Best wishes,

Samantha

As I said, a visitor visa is their only option.   They are making exceptions for immediate family members.  It costs nothing to apply for the travel exemption and there is no limit to the number of times you can apply.  I am not sure of the correct sequence though (visa first or exemption first).   Note that Paul is an agent and there's a limit to how much free advice he can offer.  

[paulhand]

12 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

With the travel exemption and visa option, what class of visa would they need? 

Assuming they hold uk passports - eVisitor

12 hours ago, SamanthaH said:

Are they making exceptions on visitor visas for immediate family members of Australian citizens? Do you know if children of Australian citizens are fairly easily able to get travel exemptions

Yes and yes. 

[SamanthaH]

On 07/03/2021 at 07:26, paulhand said:

Assuming they hold uk passports - eVisitor

Yes and yes. 

That's great, thanks Paul. Hopefully their Citizenship by Descent will be through in time, but it's reassuring to know that we have another option if we need to go before then.

Thanks again for your help.

[Ben P]

Hi all.

Just to here to provide an update on my RRV process which may be of interest to some people.

P Resident in Australia 2016-2017 (12months give or take)

Travel Facility on current PR visa (189) Expires in May 2021

Applied for own RRV on 21st December 2020

Applied for wife and son (also PR holders) on 28th Feb as part of same ‘family stream’

12 month RRV’s granted 25th March for all of us.

My evidence for sufficient ties were:

- Job Offer for Jan 2020 which I couldn’t take up due to travel complications owing to COVID (Job offer was dated October 2020)

- Letter of support from previous Aussie employer stating my suitability for future roles in said industry 

- Proof of Australian bank accounts

I hope this is of help to someone