Australian Embassy taken to task

Australian Embassy taken to task

From Media Indonesia

I am really exasperated with the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. I have applied for a visa to visit Australia four times and all of these applications were rejected. As a matter of fact, before these rejections I had visited Australia six times. Besides, I have also been abroad many times over, either on business or for holiday, and I have never had a problem with visas.

I have a number of questions that I would like the Australian Embassy to answer. First, about the Rp 280,000 which an applicant must pay when applying for a visa. This fee is not returned if our application is rejected. In my case, the fourth time I applied for a visa I had a guarantee from my boss, who is a permanent resident of Australia. Still, the application was rejected.

As dozens of people apply for visas at the Australian Embassy each day, you can imagine how much the embassy earns merely from this activity. As a matter of fact, it is not the money that has upset me but the fact that I have received no explanation as to why I was denied a visa. At other embassies, an applicant will be told why their visa request was rejected. Take the American Embassy, for example. This embassy will interview an applicant and tell them whether their visa application can be fulfilled or not. In this way a human being is treated with dignity.

In the case of my application for an Australian visa, I only received a letter saying that I did not have enough money for a week's holiday in Australia. So, what is it that makes them harbor such a suspicion? In the letter of rejection it is even handwritten as follows: "We are not satisfied that your visit is genuinely intended."

HIDAYAT SALIM

Jakarta