Entry to Australia on expired OZ passport?

[Reggie]

Hi All,

Happy new year to all here at AFF.

Anyway, just realised our five year old son's Australian passport will expire whilst we are in the UK. He has both a UK and Australian passport.

Being the tight@rse I am, I would rather leave renewing his Australian passport as late as possible.

My thoughts are, depart Australia on Aus passport, enter and leave UK on UK passport, arrive back into Australia on expired Aus passport (with UK as back up)

I know UK passport holders can enter UK on expired UK passport, but can't find anything allowing Aussies to enter Aus on expired Aus passport.

Anyone have experience or knowledge of this?

 

[opusman]

Isn't there a risk the airline won't let him board because he (presumably) won't have an ETA for his UK passport?

 

[markis10]

You cannot enter Australia on an expired passport:

Return Documents for Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents

 

[amaroo]

I'd be getting a new OZ passport quick smart!

 

[flyingfan]

Australian passports don't come cheap and I understand wanting to delay its renewal for as long as possible but I second getting a replacement. Being an Australian citizen your son will be allowed entry into Australia but with an expired Australian passport there will be delays and fiddling around.

He won't be able to enter on the UK passport - a visa cannot be granted to an Australian citizen.

 

[markis10]

He won't be able to enter on the UK passport - a visa cannot be granted to an Australian citizen.

An Australian Declaratory visa can be issued, however in the context of this discussion it would not be saving the OP any money.

 

[flyingfan]

An Australian Declaratory visa can be issued, however in the context of this discussion it would not be saving the OP any money.

I don't know if the OP's son would be granted a declaratory visa under these circumstances (my guess is no), however a declaratory visa isn't a visa as such - there is no power under the Migration Act 1958 to grant visas to Australian citizens.

 

[samuel337]

You cannot enter Australia on an expired passport

Really? What would they do to you? They can't deport an Australian citizen. Surely, it'll just take a bit longer while they confirm you are who you say you are on your expired passport.

(Assuming the expired passport is an Australian one, which it is in this case.)

 

[markis10]

Really? What would they do to you? They can't deport an Australian citizen. Surely, it'll just take a bit longer while they confirm you are who you say you are on your expired passport.

(Assuming the expired passport is an Australian one, which it is in this case.)

You would need some other ID to enter, so your not entering on an expired passport as such! Once its expired, its worthless as ID.

 

[Hvr]

You would need some other ID to enter, so your not entering on an expired passport as such! Once its expired, its worthless as ID.

Actually it can form part of the 100 points of ID for many situations as long as it's an:

Expired passport which has not been cancelled and was current within the preceding two years

 

[markis10]

Actually it can form part of the 100 points of ID for many situations as long as it's an:

Not as worthless as I thought.

 

[opusman]

They will let you in without a passport at all (e.g. if you lose it in flight), you just have to be prepared for a long wait while they verify your identity.

 

[TheEmu]

Why potentially create dramas and delays for yourself and family with officialdom anywhere in the world?
Get him a new passport pronto!

 

[ric_melb]

Actually it is a good question to ask, but the answer is get a new Australian passport for your son before you leave. Don't even consider other options.
The thought of travelling for 24 hours with your wife and son, then waiting for a long time with Immigration is too terrible to contemplate.

 

[markis10]

Actually it is a good question to ask, but the answer is get a new Australian passport for your son before you leave. Don't even consider other options.
The thought of travelling for 24 hours with your wife and son, then waiting for a long time with Immigration is too terrible to contemplate.

I honestly think boarding would be denied in that scenario.

 

[medhead]

The question really becomes how much is your time worth? The passport fee is, what a few hundred $? Is potentially 3 or 4 hours of your time worth more or less?

 

[Austman]

I posted before but deleted because my circumstances weren't exactly the same as the OP's.

I think the best advice for dual citizens is here: Dual nationals | Smartraveller

Passports and visas

Leaving and entering Australia

If you hold another country's passport, seek advice about how it should be used. Take your Australian passport and use it to depart from and return to Australia. An Australian citizen cannot be granted a visa for Australia.

When entering Australia, all Australians, including those who hold dual nationality, must be able to prove that they are an Australian citizen. An Australian passport is conclusive evidence of a person's identity and citizenship and provides the holder with right of entry to Australia.

An Australian citizen who arrives without an Australian passport may be delayed until their identity and claims to enter Australia have been checked. If a foreign passport holder claims to be an Australian citizen, immigration officers must confirm and verify this through official databases, which will cause delays.

International airlines have an obligation to ensure that they only carry appropriately documented passengers to Australia. In the absence of an Australian passport, airlines are unable to verify a claim of Australian citizenship at the time of check-in and may refuse boarding. The airline may have to make inquiries with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection in Australia seeking approval to carry the passenger, which takes time and may cause delays.

 

[bass_ke]

An Australian citizen cannot be denied entry into Australia, as others have stated though it's going to be a painful process.


If you want to proceed, contact Aus immigration so you can at least get uplift approval for the young fella and avoid a wee bit of hassle at check in

 

[RooFlyer]

If you are determined to leave the re-newal as late as possible, one can of course get an Australian passport re-newed whilst in the UK - London even offers the 'quickie' option.

 

[Kieran2274]

C&I officials, both here and overseas, are notorious for lacking flexibility - especially for anything not run of the mill (indeed they are trained specifically to identify, hold and investigate 'unusual'). In short, I wouldn't be giving them reasons to pull you out for interview - because they can and will do so and once they've done so, the delay involved with be substantial. Remember it's no skin off their nose to pull you up, but a world of hurt for them if audit finds they should have referred you up for exception investigation. Plus boredom sometimes means they enjoy looking for out-of-the-ordinary.

C&I are not people to take risks with - prevention is way better than cure!