Did you and your partner recently welcome a new life while living in Australia? Or is your family expecting a new member soon offshore of Australia? Congratulations! Bringing a new life to the world is very exciting but sometimes comes with a little confusion.
For instance, if your child is born in Australia, does this mean he or she is an Australian citizen regardless of whether you are a temporary visa holder, permanent resident, or Australian citizen? What if your child is born outside of Australia, would they lose their Australian citizenship because of that? We will comb through this topic in-depth within this article.
If a child is born in Australia, does this mean they automatically get Australian citizenship?
This is probably one of the most asked questions. The answer is not as simple as yes or no. It depends on the immigration status of the child’s parents.
Australian Citizenship Law
Australian nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds Australian nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007. This Act applies to all states and territories of Australia.
There are a number of ways you can become an Australian citizen, including:
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- Acquiring automatically
- Acquiring by application
- Citizenship by descent
- Citizenship by conferral
- Citizenship by adoption
- Resuming citizenship
Child born onshore in Australia
Up until 20 August 1986, all children born in Australia were deemed as Australian citizens, regardless of the parents’ immigration status. However, this has changed since then. According to the current regulations, when a child is born in Australia, they automatically obtain the same visa status as their parents’.
One or both parents are Australian citizens
If one or both parents are Australian citizens, their child born in Australia is an Australian citizen by birth and they acquire Australian citizenship automatically.
One or both parents are permanent residents
If one or both parents are PR, their child born in Australia will also acquire Australian citizenship automatically.
Both parents are temporary visa holders
If both parents are temporary visa holders (other than a special purpose visa), their child born in Australia will acquire the same visa as their parents’. If the parents’ visa application is not finalized, they need to log into their IMMI account and update their newborn. If the parents do not have an IMMI account or the visa application is finalized, they need to post the required documents to their nearest Department office to update their newborn.
It is worthwhile noting that children born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 will automatically acquire citizenship if they have been ordinarily resident in Australia for 10 years since the day of their birth. In that case, the child will become an Australian citizen on their 10th birthday.
The definition for “ordinarily resident” is “he or she has his or her home in that country, or that country is the country of his or her permanent abode even if he or she is temporarily absent from that country”. In other words, being an ordinarily resident doesn’t mean the child cannot leave Australia during those 10 years. Interestingly, what matters the most is actually the residential history of the parents, not the child. As long as the parents can prove they have been ordinarily resident in Australia for 10 years since the child was born, then the child will be deemed as ordinarily resident, too.
What if the child is born offshore? What is the immigration status of the child?
One or both parents are Australian citizens
If one or both parents are Australian citizens at the time of the child’s birth, their child born outside of Australia may be eligible to be an Australian citizen by descent if they were born on or after 26 January 1949. They will need to apply for citizenship for their child.
One or both parents are permanent residents
If one or both parents are Australian PR, their child born outside of Australia does not automatically acquire a visa. In other words, the parents will need to lodge a new visa application for the child.
There are a few ways to bring the child to Australia as a permanent resident. They may lodge a child visa application. Or, if the PR parent intends to sponsor the child’s other parent to come to Australia on a Partner visa or Prospective Marriage Visa, they may add the child as a dependent in the application.
Both parents are temporary visa holders
If one or both parents are Australian temporary visa holders, their child born outside of Australia does not automatically acquire a visa.
If the parents are still waiting for the outcome of their visa application, they may simply notify the Department of Home Affairs of their child’s birth and the child will automatically be added to the visa application.
If one of the parents hold one of the following visas, they can apply for a “subsequent entrant” for their child:
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- Subclass 188 Business Innovation and Investment Visa
- Subclass 489 Skilled Regional Visa
- Subclass 500 Student Visa
- Subclass 403 Temporary Work (International Relations) Visa
- Subclass 407 Training Visa
- Subclass 408 Temporary Activity Visa
- Subclass 457 Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa
- Subclass 482 TSS Visa
If the parents do not hold one of the visas listed above and have no unfinalized visa application, then they will need to apply for a new visa for their child.
Summary Chart
Need help with applying for your child’s Australian citizenship? Still unsure if you need to apply for a new visa for your child?
Worry not! Book a consultation with Ausdirect Migration today. Rest assured, we will assist you in navigating every step of the process during your migration journey.
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