Immigration consul returns to KL pleased
MELBOURNE: Malaysia's immigration consul here flies home to Kuala Lumpur Sunday after completing her assignment in Australia, which included the seamless and successful relocation of her office from Canberra to Melbourne last year.
The highly regarded Nawal Mohamed Amin says she is leaving Australia with a mixture of sadness and joy. "I enjoyed working and staying in Canberra, where I was initially posted, and later Melbourne. It has been a good posting and rewarding experience," she said.
"But I'm looking forward to returning to Malaysia where I can serve my country better with my experience and expertise gained in Australia.” I will also be close to family and friends, which will be fantastic," she added.
Nawal said she was fortunate to have had the help of the consul-general here, Datuk Dr Mohd Rameez Yahaya, who had made the immigration staff, including her deputy Yusof Ibrahim, feel most welcome. Nawal's successor Zaharuddin Izham Zulkipli arrived here this week.
Saying that there was an increasing number of Malaysians seeking immigration help, Nawal added that," The public response to our office has been overwhelming and our reception area is often packed." "We are delighted with the friendliness of Malaysians seeking our service though they can be quite demanding at times. So it's a great joy to see them satisfied.
"Some travel a long way -- from Adelaide, Tasmania, Queensland, Sydney -- to renew their passports or for other immigration matters. "In the past they had to travel to Canberra for such services, but now they're happy to come to Melbourne and enjoy visiting friends and relatives or go sight-seeing, shopping and fine dining.” Whereas going to Canberra can be very expensive. Air fares to Canberra are costlier than other Australian routes because it's the seat of the government."
Nawal said travellers requiring social visit visas also appreciated the convenience of the immigration office being located in Melbourne. "We find an increasing number of international students spending a few days in Malaysia on their way back home. They're from China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Taiwan. "And then there are the backpackers from Europe and other parts of the world who come here for visas too."
The passport processing equipment here services the whole of Australia, so applicants going to the consulates in Canberra and Perth can expect to wait up to 14 days to get their documents back, but in Melbourne it is done on the spot. A total of 1,047 Malaysian passports were processed in January and February this year while 759, mainly students and permanent residents in Australia, renewed their passports. "We also issued 59 Emergency documents to Malaysians who had lost their passports and had to travel urgently'" Nawal said.
The Christmas/New Year holidays was the busiest period when up the 60 passports are processed in a day which "can test the limits of our equipment and immigration team", she said. "Amazingly, we worked together seamlessly and we would like to thank all the Malaysians for their patience. "It was also a good time to iron out the final kinks in our operation," she said. -- BERNAMA