The Department of Home Affairs must be notified of children born onshore to visa holders under current legislation.
When a child is born onshore the Department must be notified as soon as possible, even if they do not have a passport yet. A baby born in Australia is automatically an Australian citizen if at least one parent was an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of birth. The baby may also be eligible for dual citizenship of the parents’ home country (if permitted by the home country).
Not notifying the Department can lead to complications in the baby’s status if the child is taken offshore without a visa, especially if the parents are temporary visa holders. The parent may need to apply for another visa for the baby to return to Australia, while remaining overseas. This could be an expensive exercise in terms of visa fees, whereas notifying the Department to include the baby while onshore on the parent’s visa can be done simply with an email to the Department and no visa fees apply.
