There are cases where a person applies for a PR visa while overseas and becomes pregnant before grant. In some of those cases, the applicant is determined to give birth overseas in order to obtain family support and the baby will not become an Australian citizen by birth. Further, the mother runs the risk of the baby being born without a visa and having to apply for a costly and lengthy child visa. We explain how practitioners can minimise that risk.
Imagine the following sequence of events relating to a hypothetical non-citizen who is offshore and does not hold a visa:
- she applies for a PR visa as a primary applicant, for instance subclass 190
- she becomes pregnant
- she gives birth offshore in order to obtain family support
Let us suppose that the father is not an Australian citizen either.
What will be the child's immigration status?
We discuss below the 2 possible outcomes and how to minimise the risk of the worst of them eventuating.