Fortified Borders

My parents, brother, sister and I are sitting at the VFS visa application centre in Connaught Place in New Delhi. We got up early, packed snacks and water into a backpack like you might if going on an adventure or a hike. Except we have come prepared to wait some hours while we simply submit my parents' application to visit their children, members of their Australian family.

We were jostled in the crowds, patted down twice in security and had our bags checked to enter the building where the VFS office is located.

My brother, sister and I have lived in Australia for 40 years. My parents have been preparing their application and supporting documents for weeks. They are required to complete an application that asks them 53 questions, submit copies of their current and expired passports, Indian ID cards, a letter of invitation from their children, a letter from them to support their application, proof of their ability to finance their holiday, plus the usual photographs etc etc. They are paying $350 simply to apply. They will pay another $250 to undergo a full medical assessment that's going to take 3 hours and which is an added requirement of the Australian government.

Further, they are also being asked to show evidence of their 'incentive to return' as if everyone is trying or wishing to make Australia their island paradise home and leave behind their country, community, cultural identity and sense of belonging. My parents are providing their ownership documents of the apartment in which they have lived for 26 years and plan to return to.

I'm outraged. My friend in Norway went online and within 35 minutes had a tourist visa.

After decades of me living in Australia my parents not only have to go through an elaborate process, they have to answer questions that imply they may be overstayers. Parents who are nationals of other countries when visiting their families apparently cost the Australian taxpayers a lot of money. How?? Travel insurance is mandatory for travellers of a certain age.

Why did we waste 6 million taxpayer dollars and deploy the Royal Australian Navy to rescue the wealthy and foolish solo sailor Tony Bullimore when he got himself into trouble? He is not Australian.

We don't save refugees who are foreigners sinking in and around our borders, we push them further away from our territorial waters and a safe distance away from our conscience. The least we can do is be gracious to the extended family members of naturalised Australians.

Why doesn't Mr Bullimore get asked to pay back the money so it can be used to subsidise costs (supposedly) incurred for visiting parents of Australian residents?

I've been paying taxes for a lot of years. I've never taken a cent of social security funds in all the years I've lived in Australia. I want my parents to be welcomed into 'my' country not to spend weeks preparing for a visa and then not be certain that they will be granted one.

This policy doesn't elicit feelings of patriotism in me.

The system needs to be a little more adaptive to those with strong ties and a long history with Australia, not a one size fits all for first time and returning travellers.

Granted there may be issues of people not abiding by the terms of their visas. In Australia it has been factually proven that the overstaying offenders have usually been from the UK and New Zealand. Please consider this ... Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Even the department's name sounds unwelcoming.

The Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is visiting New Delhi this week. No doubt he'll speak of diplomatic ties, the strong friendship between India and Australia, maybe even watch some of the Indian Premier League cricket while also selling off Australian coal and uranium. But that's business.

The Australian Tourism Board promotes the country as a holiday destination and an ideal place to study. Poor regulations have seen substandard colleges open up in the hundreds and students from India arrive in hordes and pay large amounts for little education to providers who are profiteering. That's business too.

Within the visa business, policies and regulations, what's missing is heart.

Families spread across the world for most of their lifetimes want simply to be together for precious moments not be deterred from visiting their family by costly and drawn out procedures that have more than a trace of colonial overtones and give me a lasting bitter taste to contend with along with everything else.