I was hoping fellow Aussie parents might have some insight.
I haven’t taken the kids home for a visit since right before the pandemic. But every single time I did, the Australian temporary visit visa, ETA, was so incredibly simple I did it multiple times in the car on the way to the airport, and once, when I forgot, at check-in.
One of my children and I have a trip coming up, and though we still have plenty of time, to check off one of the boxes on my mental list of things to do, I sat down with them this morning to get it squared away. Absolute fucking nightmare. There’s an app now? Fair enough. We signed up on his phone, jumped through all the hoops, paid and waited expectantly for the confirmation email.
No dice.
It’s not approved, and won’t be unless I provide a shit-ton of forms I’ve never needed before, some of which I will have difficulty getting my hands on. Like an officially translated copy of his birth certificate and the official form detailing the configuration of our family. Notarized copies of mine and my husband’s passports.
Given my situation ([https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/11xt8rr/will\_i\_lose\_my\_kids/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/11xt8rr/will_i_lose_my_kids/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)) I’m more than a little concerned my husband has put the kids on some kind of no fly list. But maybe things have just tightened up? At any rate, here’s my new answer for all the people telling me to just take them home.
Has anyone come across these issues with the previously simple ETA?
7 comments
Do your children not already have Australian citizenship?
Disclaimer: Not Australian.
Wait a second…I might be stupid or missing information, but wouldn’t your kids also be Australian through you if you’re Australian? Forgive me for the question, but I guess I don’t see the need for the visa to begin with.
>At any rate, here’s my new answer for all the people telling me to just take them home.
I advise you apply for citizenship asap for them (form 118 – citizenship by descent) there can be a sometimes long processing time, and you’ll need to gather a lot of documents and have them officially translated by someone with NAATI certification.
No matter what your plans are in the future, it’s good to have that option available.
>I’m more than a little concerned my husband has put the kids on some kind of no fly list.
If it’s asking you to submit documents, I don’t think that’s the case.
Did they ask for a 1229 consent form because there’s only one accompanying parent? Or something else? That sounds like too many documents for that form. In the past did you both go as well? If only you then I agree it’s very strange that suddenly you need all this extra stuff.
A friend has filled that out, but not recently, they just needed the other parents ID, their signature, and a certified (not translated) birth certificate. It was pre pandemic though, so a few years ago. Before the app.
Official translation of birth certificate is easy enough – I think “official” just means, done by a professional instead of you. Plenty of services for that.
“Configuration of family” just sounds like juminhyo, which you can also translate.
Getting your husband’s passport might be difficult depending on him, I guess.
You’ll need all this stuff to get them an Aussie passport anyway, so two birds with one stone.
Prepare all the documents, and also apply for a passport anyways. That’s what I did because it’s better to just get an Aussie passport rather than getting a visa every time.