VisaAustralian employer-sponsored visa applicants must report a newborn promptly
This current-rule guide explains how parents with an undecided employer-sponsored visa application should report a non-citizen newborn, prepare documents and distinguish registration costs from immigration requirements.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Check that the child belongs in a pending visa application
Parents whose non-citizen baby is born in Australia while an employer-sponsored visa application remains undecided should notify Home Affairs promptly. Departmental information sheet 1496i says a child born after lodgement but before decision is automatically included in the pending application, while still requiring notification. Automatic inclusion is not a reason to leave the child undocumented.
This guide concerns pending visa applications, not a determination of citizenship or the position after every visa has already been finalised. An Australian citizen cannot validly apply for a visa. Families should therefore establish whether the newborn needs immigration inclusion rather than assume that birth in Australia settles citizenship. The federal myGov newborn checklist separately tells visa holders and permanent residents to notify Home Affairs as soon as possible.
Complete the change-of-circumstances form accurately
Form 1022 is for changes affecting answers in an existing application. It differs from form 1023, which concerns an answer that was incorrect when supplied. A birth after lodgement is a new event; describing it accurately avoids confusing a changed family situation with a correction to an earlier response.
The form asks for the applicant’s identity and contact details, family members, the information that is no longer current and the new details. Include the visa application information where known, sign the declaration and retain the form and attachments. Its printed March 2018 edition contains general office-return wording. That should be read alongside the more specific current electronic notification instructions, rather than treated as a requirement to post documents already requested through ImmiAccount.
Send the birth evidence and use the employer-sponsored notification channel
Information sheet 1496i requests a completed form 1022 and a colour scan of the birth certificate. If a passport has been issued, include colour scans of the pages showing the child’s photograph, personal details and issue and expiry dates. The sheet directs applicants with an ImmiAccount application to upload the documents there.
The Employer Sponsored Visa Program enquiry instructions additionally say to notify the department even if the newborn does not yet have a passport. After updating ImmiAccount, use that enquiry form’s newborn option to inform the employer-sponsored processing team. Do not wait for passport production merely to report the birth. Use the actual program instructions for any further evidence or examination requests; this article does not establish the child’s visa status or a separate travel entitlement.
Register the birth and order the certificate through the correct state service
The myGov checklist distinguishes birth registration from obtaining a certificate: registration is through the state or territory, and a certificate may need to be ordered separately. Its directory links the relevant authorities. Hospital notification is not a substitute for the parents’ registration task.
For families in New South Wales, the registry says parents should register within sixty days, with a longer period where sex characteristics are difficult to assign. It accepts later registrations as well. These are NSW instructions, not a nationwide immigration deadline. Registration is free; its standard certificate ordered at registration costs AUD70 including the stated postage and handling. The registry also lists an additional AUD10 for overseas delivery. Check your own jurisdiction’s documents and charges if the baby was born elsewhere. Allow for postal delivery beyond the published processing estimate.
Keep the immigration submission, fees and supporting copies separate
Home Affairs’ attachment instructions say the application determines which documents to upload and whether they are supplied before or after submission. Documents cannot be attached to a finalised application through that function, and uploaded copies are not available for later retrieval from ImmiAccount. Keep the birth evidence and the version submitted in your own records.
The same service says not to email supporting documents instead of using its attachment process. A specific processing team may provide a separate notification channel, as the employer-sponsored instructions do; follow that named procedure rather than an address copied from another visa category. The state certificate charge is not a visa application charge. No separate numerical newborn immigration charge was established from the sources examined, so ask the responsible processing team about any amount requested for the actual case. Acknowledging a birth or paying for a certificate does not guarantee the visa outcome.
