ALTHOUGH we are all aware of the problems that face the general public when dealing with a bureaucracy, namely the Immigration Department, the experience that I was recently forced to endure defies belief and common-sense.
On August 24, I accompanied a domestic helper to the Immigration Department in order to support her application for employment with me.
She had been given an appointment time of 9am. We arrived at 8.45am on the 7th floor of Immigration Tower and she deposited her papers in the requisite tray. I noted that these papers were not collected until 9.30am and that Immigration Department officers did not arrive at their desks until 10am.
At this point, flabbergasted, I decided to check other floors of Immigration Tower. I noted that other sub-departments were fully manned and applications for such items as passports and identity cards were being efficiently processed. I returned to the domestic helper's section, to find that no domestic helpers had yet been called for interview. Finally, the first domestic helper was called at 10.20am. Adjacent to this section was another section dealing with locally sponsored employment visas, and I observed that over the next 60 minutes, whilst five domestic helpers were processed, approximately 25 employment visas were issued at the adjacent section.
I finally intervened at mid-day, explaining to one of the officers that I did not have all day to wait to speak with an officer. At this juncture, my domestic helper's application was immediately processed.
Having to leave at this point, my domestic helper was told to wait for a second interview. She reported to me later that she was finally processed at 3.30pm, a full 61/2 hours after her appointment time! I wish to ask the Immigration Department the following questions: Why, when an appointment is made for 9am, does it take practically a full day for the Immigration Department to process an application? Surely it would be more practical to stagger the interview time rather than forcing every applicant to arrive at 9am en masse.
