Aussie visa complaint

My Indonesian wife was pregnant last year. Living in a remote town in the Northern Territory away from any family either immediate or extended, I became a bit stressed because with the first child my wife suffered very bad morning sickness and was hospitalized at one stage.

Early last year I arranged a visa for her younger single sister to come for a couple of months to help out during the morning sickness. She got the visa no problem.

When my wife was due to have a baby a few months later, I put together the material needed for her eldest sister to gain an Australian visa. I provided the same paperwork and I was not too concerned because she was in a better financial position and would be leaving behind children and a house.

Unfortunately during that time the bomb blast occurred. Months have passed. Needless to say she never came to Australia. She received a letter from the Australian Embassy mid November 2004 when she went to pick up her passport. It stated her application was rejected.

Why was it rejected? She was in a stronger financial position than her younger sister, she has a family and a house she was leaving behind in Indonesia and I provided the same paperwork as for the previously approved visa.

I know under normal circumstances it would have been approved, but with the extra workload that the Australian Embassy had, it was probably easier to get through the backlog if you just reject visa applications. Who cares right, you are not there to provide any service and my sister-in-law after all doesn't mind paying a few hundred thousand rupiah for nothing.

I encourage others who have had a bad experience with the Australian Embassy to write in. I think the Australian Embassy needs a bit of a push to bring them out of their reality into ours.

DOMENIC BOS, Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia