Resident Return Visa (RRV) visa for kids

[Joe047]

Hi All!


Short intro:

15 years ago my family (myself, my ex-wife and my kids) were granted visas to become Australian permanent residents. We arrived in Australia all together in 2008.


In 2009, we went through the divorce process and my ex left Australia with my kids, but I decided to stay and work in Australia and I got my Australian citizenship in 2013.



In 2023, we have decided that my kids (16 and 17 years old) will need to go back to Australia to live with me.


Question(s):

- What is the process for getting a Resident Return Visa (RRV) visa for my kids?


- Should I (as a parent) submit an application form on behalf of my kids to Immigration and citizenship Website ?

- Any special conditions or requirements to get my kids returned to Australia?


- Or, should my kids submit application forms to get RRV visas themselves?



Please advise. Thank you!

 

[Tim W]

What country are they in now?

 

[Joe047]

Hi Tim,

currently they are in Kazakhstan (KZ) with their mother

but... does it matter what country they stay in atm?
i mean - are there any differences for the AU RRV between China/Brazil/France/Italy/Kazakhstan/etc ??

Thanks!

 

[Tim W]

currently they are in Kazakhstan (KZ) with their mother

OK

but... does it matter what country they stay in atm?

Yes

i mean - are there any differences for the AU RRV between China/Brazil/France/Italy/Kazakhstan/etc ??

Yes, loads.
For example, some places are not even recognised as actually being countries (Abkhazia, Kosovo)
Some foreign students may be denied visas as the result of sanctions imposed on their country of origin (eg Russia)

But before we get into all that, perhaps you can explain why you think an RRV is the right choice?

 

[Joe047]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the explanation!

RE 'why you think an RRV is the right choice?'
good question! well, my thinking was that it would be 'relatively easy' to obtain RRV for my kids because they already have Australian permanent resident status since 2008.. and as permanent residents, they have all the rights to live in Australia... ?

as per my understanding, we will need to demonstrate the compelling reasons for their absence from Australia and the only reason why they were 'forced' to leave Australia 15 years ago is simply because they didn't have a choice
well, you know.. 2-3 year old children don't have a voice to choose whether they want to stay in Australia or to move overseas, it was the decision taken by their mother that they had to follow...

but nowadays they are more independent, and they can decide themselves to choose the parent they want to live with... it's more like a family reunion, so we believe that kids have substantial personal ties to live in Australia with the parent who is an Australian citizen and lives in Australia

but, I got your point... you might be right - there are other visa types available that we can also try to apply for that could be easier to get granted

I just checked the immi.homeaffairs.gov.au website, and i can see that we can apply for the child visa (Subclass 101)


BUT now i think i have more reasons/preferences to stick to the RRV

first of all, RRV will cost AUD425.00 per person, while 'child visa' will be AUD2,790.00 per person

another reason to stay away from the child visa is the age limit: "To be eligible for a child visa, you must be someone who is under 18 years of age, or a full time student between 18 and 24 years of age"

with an RRV visa there are no such requirements, right? I mean, the applicants for the RRV can be any age?

in our case, I can apply for RRV for my kids while they are under 18 years of age OR they can apply for RRV later, even when they are 25+ years old, right?

apologies if in my initial post i didn't make it clear that there is no pressure to get my kids in AU right now, we're still thinking about "the right time" - we're just exploring the options...
these options might include studying in KZ and moving to AU after university, or they can try to move in right after school to get higher education in Australia (probably start with TAFE as their English is not that good yet)

Cheers, Joe

 

[Joe047]

Hi Tim,

now you've got me thinking about other alternatives too!

maybe we'd better start with the Visitor visa (subclass 600) Tourist stream or Sponsored family stream, with this visa type my kids can visit me a few times per year to see if they really want to permanently move to Australia before we take a decision on the approach for the 'stay longer' visa type

the only question I cannot answer myself yet: how the "8101 - No work" or "8201 - Maximum 3 months study" conditions can be applied to permanent(!) residents of Australia even if they entered on a Visitor visa this time?

I mean, Visitor visa conditions clearly stated "You must not work in Australia", but at the same time is it possible to apply restrictions to people who have already got Australian permanent residency granted in the past...?

 

[Tim W]

You are overthinking yourself into utter confusion.
Take yourself to see a lawyer who works in immigration, and get fully thought out, case specific advice.

Note that a mere layman Migration Agent won't cut it.
They can't advise you on the Family Law aspects, and this is as much about that as it is about visas.