[MaxPower]

Hoping for some feedback or advice on this visa - Australian Declaratory visa

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/931.pdf

Getting so much conflicting information and nobody really knows much about it

Well my wife is a new Australian Citizen and still has her Chinese passport (yes I know ... she will automatically lose her Chinese Citizenship if the Chinese Govt finds out ... but are millions upon millions of "shadow" dual Chinese citizens out there) ... but that is not the issue, if she gets sprung so be it ....

Complicated matter is that she legally changed her name in Australia and China doesn't allow name changes so doesn't recognise her "new" identity and all her academic work/research in China is under her "old" name and is still recognised by the "old" name and when universities/conferences invite her to travel to China they want to pay her expenses/flight tickets using her "old" name

Last time she went back in Aug last year she got held up at Melb Airport checkin for 45 minutes to due name issues, then another 15 minutes at immigration and then when back in China returning home got held up for 60 minutes at checkin due to name issues

This has happened virtually every time we have travelled anywhere - and not just back to China ... always a muckup with the different names .... as her Chinese passport has her Chinese name and her Oz Visa (now Citizenship) is in a totally different name

So since her last trip to China she has become an Australian Citizen and can apply for a Australian Passport (which would come in her "new" name) but as I said all her work and she is known as her "old" name in China and will have a big economic/employment impact

She spoke to one migration agent and they suggested applying for an ADV ... so she can use her Chinese Passport for Chinese travel and have an Australian Passport in her "new" name for other travel

Not much info about this visa online as is very rare ... so do any of you good folk have any experience with this ADV visa?

One question that I can't get an answer to is "if she applies for an Australian Passport" does that invalidate the ADV ... called up HA ... first person said "yes it does" but email HA Resident Return division for more info (did that ... no reply after 2 weeks) ... called again yesterday and got totally different answer saying you can have an ADV in a Foreign Passport & hold an Australian Passport at the same time ... which sort of contradicts with Q14/15 of the form with Qs about your Australian Passport

Is no guarantee that she will get an ADV approved (as is a case-by-case basis and need to provide "compelling reason" for it)

Any experience/advice about ADV would be much appreciated

 

[wrussell]

If the Australian government associates an ADV with a PRC passport and it is used, the PRC authorities will know and they will know that to be granted an ADV the applicant must be an Australian citizen.

It might pay you to obtain correct advice about names under which an Australian passport can be issued.

 

[MaxPower]

I was told by the HA officer ... that the Advance Passenger Processing available to airlines/overseas immigration doesn't say what specific type of visa the passenger has ... just rather if they have valid entry to the destination country or not

We spoke to another migration agent this morning and he said "do what all the other Chinese dual citizens do" ... enter/leave China via a third country with visa free access for Chinese ... Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia

 

[dumbwaiter]

"...Complicated matter is that she legally changed her name in Australia.. "

A simple solution might be to change her Australian name back to the previous. Was there some special reason why she had to get two names, if it is so much trouble?

 

[MaxPower]

Was there some special reason why she had to get two names

Love

She changed her Chinese born name to her English name (which everybody in Australia knows her as) and my surname

 

[Maggie-May24]

If it was me, I'd assume my married name for everything except the passport. So keep the Australian passport in her Chinese name to make the process easier. She just needs to remember to always book flights under her Chinese name.

I got married halfway through the immigration process. I didn't want to go through the hassle of getting a new passport, updating visa, etc. so I continued using my previous name for immigration matters but used my new married name for everything else (credit cards, drivers license, employment, etc.)