Getting an Australian passport for HK born baby

[aussiegal]

My husband and i and my first born are all australian citizens with aussie passports. My second child was born in HK but we are yet to organise his passport It hasn't stopped us travelling there however. Our travel agent simply organised a visa. It was free of charge and took a day. It ended up being a photocopied bit of paper that we tucked into my husband's passport. I'd do this. You'll have just had a baby. Concentrate on that for the first few months, have your holiday, then come back and arrange the passport.

 

[nicolejoy]

Are you or your husband Chinese? The reason for asking is that I "think" one of the parents has to be Chinese before your baby can qualify for a HK passport.

My husband was born in Hong Kong and moved to Australia when he was about 6. After he got Australian citizenship, his whole family renounced their Chinese nationality because his Dad suffered a lot under communism. So although he was BORN in Hong Kong, he isn't a "Chinese national" so he has a permanent ID card, but only one star instead of three (the same as if he'd just lived here for 7 years and then gotten his permanent ID like that)...

 

[nicolejoy]

Unfortunatley the Aust. govt are just as fussy with babies photos as they are with adults.

The baby must have it's eyes open, mouth closed, head dead straight etc.

That is completely insane! Within a few months, the baby will hardly even resemble his/her passport photo anyway!! They should be more lenient for babies, I think!!

 

[nicolejoy]

My husband and i and my first born are all australian citizens with aussie passports. My second child was born in HK but we are yet to organise his passport It hasn't stopped us travelling there however. Our travel agent simply organised a visa. It was free of charge and took a day. It ended up being a photocopied bit of paper that we tucked into my husband's passport. I'd do this. You'll have just had a baby. Concentrate on that for the first few months, have your holiday, then come back and arrange the passport.

How does that work? Does the baby have a passport at all?? Or they don't need a passport that young? Can you give me more info about that?? Thanks!!

 

[vrombola]

I had the same situation in Nov 2007 and took my baby back to Oz for xmas so you should be ok. The steps above are correct, first get a birth certifcate (apply for this when in hospital and get your husband go collect it), then go to the Australian consulate and apply for a citizenship certificate. This will take two weeks, but when you go to collect it take all your passport application stuff with you and apply for that when you're there (they let me do it). Just make sure you get the right photo for the bub so your passport application doesn't get rejected.

And the best thing you can do is call the consulate and have them send you (1) citizenship application and (2) passport application and have all this filled out BEFORE you go to hospital (as much as you can, anyway).

Good luck!

 

[aussiegal]

How does that work? Does the baby have a passport at all?? Or they don't need a passport that young? Can you give me more info about that?? Thanks!!

I'll have to ask my husband but if i recall correctly our baby had his british passport already. It is much easier to get a british passport (if you are eligible of course) than it is an australian. I guess he travelled on the british passport and used a visa to get into Oz.

i second the comments about the ridiculousness of trying to get a newborn to look at the camera for a passport photo. we took hundreds of photos at home before we got one we could use. We just emailed it to a photo/camera shop and they put it on a suitable background.

 

[nicolejoy]

I don't have a British passport - although I have grandparents who were born there. I don't want the hassle/expense of getting one - there's no benefit to me, I don't think... I don't even know the requirements and all that...

One of the hard things is knowing whether to book the ticket BEFORE the baby is born, or whether to wait and book it after - but then it'd DEFINITELY be more expensive, and harder to get tickets... it's Christmas time!! I know it'd be "easier" to just travel say in March or something instead - but Christmas is really important to me... ugh. I'm already stressing! Maybe I should be induced at 38 weeks or something

 

[Bear Lau]

Nicolejoy,
Don't worry, you will have sufficient time to get the AUS passport.
More important, due to the miainland Chinese the birth registry is full all the time. So go there earlier(1/2 hr before it open)to make sure you will get the quota for the day. If you already download all the forms and have the right photo ready, you could apply for the citizenship certificate on the same day (Aus consulate close at 12N)
Regarding the ticket booking, I will suggest you to book it in advance since there are limited bassinet seat on one flight.(one of my friend end up have to hold the baby to NY) If they ask for the age of the baby, make it up, as long as it is under 6 months,its OK. I did it before(CX) for my baby girl for Easter since my due day was March. You could always adjust the DOB later but you have to decide on your baby's name before she born.

Good luck and relax.....

 

[milb]

I applied for baby's citizenship & passport last Oct. Can't recall exact processing time for each. But I remember we started applying on 8 Oct and already flying out on 19 Oct!!

And don't forget...you have to get an Aussie, not related to you, with certain professions (banker, lawyer,etc) to sign one of the application forms, can't remember it's for citizenship/passport. You can download the application forms from the Internet to check it out.

For photos, I just took baby to Fotomax and they can keep taking until you find one suitable (with then 7-month old baby looking straight to camera with the mouth closed....argh!).

 

[peainpod]

And don't forget...you have to get an Aussie, not related to you, with certain professions (banker, lawyer,etc) to sign one of the application forms, can't remember it's for citizenship/passport. You can download the application forms from the Internet to check it out.

Not if you are applying from abroad. For overseas applications, proof of identity can be completed by "a citizen of the applicant's country of residence" [i.e. Hong Kong] employed in one of the stated occupational groups.

(It's in the fine print on the application form.)