Teen daughter needs to validate visa then return but how long does she stay for?

[Corinne14470]

My stepdaughter will be part of our PR visa but she needs to come out to validate the visa (straightaway???) and then hopefully come back out when her GCSEs have finished. Is there a time limit on how long she would have to stay out in the first instance (1 day, 3 weeks, 3 months?) - I have rung Australia house this morning and they were very unclear about this, really just saying to me that it will be in the visa stipulations but if they don't know our circumstances.... From their statement, I understood that this could vary?? A bit of a rare question I would have thought but if anyone has experienced this recently please let me know...

 

Also, 15 year olds can return on a plane themselves can't they?? Not a nice thing to do but a necessity I think...

[ali]

She can be on the next plane back if she wants too, as long as she goes through passport control she'll be regarded as having validated her visa. She is allowed to travel on her own - you could have a word with the airline and they'll just keep an eye on her.

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Corinne

 

I started travelling between the UK and Malaysia on my own when I was 8 years old. My father was a British expat working in Malaysia so we lived there but he sent my sister and I to boarding school in the UK when each of us was 8 years old. I am older than my sister so for the first two years, I was on my own.

 

We/I just commuted out to Malaysia 3 times a year for the school holidays.

 

Honestly, there is nothing to it even when a child is much younger than your 15 year old daughter. Children travelling alone are classified as Unaccompanied Minors under the IATA rules till the child is 16, I believe. The airlines take extra special care of the UMs.

 

So please don't worry about a thing.

 

Cheers

 

Gill