Great wait of the world
Saturday, August 16th, 2008Elisabeth Wynhausen; 16/8/08
A few months ago migration lawyer Michael Clothier rang the Adelaide offices of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to complain that cheques for visa application fees he had written on his trust account hadn’t been cashed in three months. The Adelaide office processes applications from skilled migrants who wish to settle in Australia. Clothier was aware there was a backlog. “People are waiting for these visas for more than 12 months,” he says. But he was startled nonetheless. “They said they couldn’t find the file to give me a receipt or even tell me whether they had cashed my cheque because my client’s file was in a pile with 7000 others on the floor.”
