Those who may occasionally dip into this blog (zero!-ed.) will know that I have been quite involved in helping my wife with her partner visa application. It is a long process and the onus is on the applicant to provide sufficient reason in writing, together with copious documentation. The purpose is to show that the relationship is genuine and ongoing. There are immigration agents who, for a sizeable fee, will guide you through the process. We did not use an agent. For the purposes of our visa application, I was the agent. It is genuinely exhausting.

But the good news is that Ann has been granted an 820 visa, a subclass that confers provisional residential status pending the final outcome in 12 months or so. Ann wants to bring her daughter Athitaya(JJ) from Thailand, something which will delay her own permanent settlement by some months. Of course, I have been helping my wife again in completing the initial visa application on behalf of her daughter.The rest is up to the folks in Bangkok.

I guess the point that I want to make is that, despite the unpleasant rhetoric coming out of Canberra, a fair process is being followed by public servants. Sure, its hard to do and there are multiple hoops to jump, but it seems, even to my sceptical way of thinking, reasonable and equitable. Alas, if only the same fair go could be applied to refugees, we could all hold our heads a little higher. The problem is purely political and therein lies the solution.