Australian Embassy Jakarta

I have had many dealings with the staff of both the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and the Consulate in Bali - most of them, quite unpleasant, negative and frustrating. I now have another to add to the list. My partner applied for a visitor visa to travel to Australia at Christmas time this year. It has been refused. The reasons – he doesn’t have enough money in his bank account and, as was stated when I spoke to someone on the phone – “there is no incentive for him to return to Indonesia.” What bullshit. Actually ringing the embassy is a task in patience and endurance in itself. They have a stupid rule of only accepting phone calls between 2 pm and 4 pm. If you actually get to speak to a person and not a recording between these times it becomes even more frustrating if you start asking for explanations. You will be cut off, passed onto another answering machine or just left on the line waiting till you decide to hang-up. Five attempts it took me to actually talk to someone who was prepared to tell me what the outcome of the visa application was. The fact that I had supplied a sponsorship letter and my bank accounts to show I was providing financial support for his visit were not considered in the application. I hear stories of other Indonesians who have applied and been refused for the same reasons.
It’s a sad state of affairs, I believe, in that I rang the embassy to verify that I knew the person applying for the visa, that they would in fact be travelling with me, would reside at my parent’s house and travel back to Indonesia after only ten days. Many Australians are quite xenophobic and despite our façade of cultural tolerance, still quite racist, I believe. We are so paranoid about people coming into our country. When I say people, I mean actually, people from Asia. Many of the Indonesians I talk to will express concern about how they would be treated if they went to Australia. That’s a worry. The longer I live in Asia the more I realise how insular and paranoid Australians are. It’s one reason why I have no desire to live there again.