Immigration Processing at the airport
From "Red Tape Reduction Consultation"
Go to the project
My colleague arrived today and was not issued the work permit because immigration is "experiencing delays with processing" according to their generic response.
My colleague says that the officer called inside to their colleague who demanded that they come inside.
The officer apparently berated my colleague and threatened with a fine of $265.00!!!
He then asked if the permit was approved or if there was an email from immigration.
So, this is immigration asking a civilian a question about immigration.
My colleague retrieved the email to show that immigration sent confirmation of the approval.
Two questions arose:
- Why should my colleague have to prove that they have an approved permit if immigration has sent confirmation to the employer knowing that the permit hasn't been issued and that their colleagues at the airport will ask for a permit or an email?
- Why does immigration not have a system in place to send confirmation to their own colleagues at the airport?
- Why can't their systems be integrated?
- Are there two sections of immigration working independently of each other?
The threat of a fine is redundant because immigration issues permits and notifies employers, and, knows when permits haven't been issued as a result of the process being too cumbersome and manually intensive.
While my colleague was in the office, another call came through and the way that the officer spoke to his own colleague was anything but professional - very flippant!
A simple electronic permit with a QR code with a reference to a government run website that has permit details, passport and visa details on a secure site would go a long way further than burly officers hurling threats of fines.
Side note:
The tags on this forum should include:
- Modernization
- Digitization
- Economy of Effort