Australian Embassy grievance

The letter from Mark Ogilvie of May 10, 1999, regarding the treatment and attitude of the immigration section of the Australian Embassy was disturbing. However, sadly, Mr. Ogilvie's observations and comments are right on the mark.

I am an Australian citizen married to an Indonesian and have endured long waits and the poor attitude of the embassy staff in order to obtain visas for my wife. I was also refused access to Australian staff and was only successful recently in obtaining a one-month single entry visa for my wife. Consequently, if I want to be prepared to go home to Australia in the future, I have to obtain a new visa for my wife every month. Quite a nice revenue earner for the embassy, but a great inconvenience for my wife and I.

On my last visit to the embassy I was informed that my wife was classed as a "high risk" visa applicant and that the embassy judged that she would be "more likely" to overstay her visa. This is despite her visiting Australia seven times before and always returning on time. I was also informed that my wife could not be guaranteed a visa because of her high risk status.

Not being satisfied with the situation, I wrote to the Australian Minister for Immigration, Mr. Phillip Ruddock, the Shadow Minister Mr. Con Sciacca, the Head of the Immigration at the Jakarta Embassy and the Ambassador at the Jakarta Embassy. After one month none of the above have bothered to reply to my letters. This seems to be typical of the attitudes of those involved.

The message to Australians married to Indonesian citizens seems to be that 1. Your spouse is classed as a higher risk than normal visa applicants. 2. You need to get a new visa every month if you want to be able to leave Indonesia (with your spouse) on short notice and 3. Don't count on being able to discuss your situation with an Australian at the Australian embassy.

PAUL NITZ

Jakarta