Tuesday 9 October 2007

Passports Round 2 - Getting Legal

Mr Ross Tysoe
Assistant Secretary
Passport Services Branch

9th October 2007

Ref: Your letter of 28th August 2007

Dear Mr Tysoe

Thank you for your courteous and prompt reply. My apologies for not replying earlier.

I have waited until the outcome of the case "Abrams and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade [2007] AATA 1816 (28 September 2007)"
and it has taken some time to get legal advice.

I am at a loss at the APO's statement:

"We have no record of your submitting at the time of your application a citizenship certificate describing you as Zoe Ellen Brain"

This was passed by hand to the case officer by 4pm 6th September 2006, before final disposition of the case. The certificate has been issued on the 24th of August 2006, and the Immigration records changed accordingly.

In view of this, the medical evidence in the APO's possession since July 2006 stating that I am female, and the recent AAT decision, I invite the APO to radically re-assess their position on this matter. If not, I will commence legal proceedings.

Yours Sincerely
etc etc
Now to see how much money this is going to cost me, and see if I can get some of it done pro bono publicum. Any suggestions welcome.

And they still haven't sent me the refund. Incompetence or Malice? I still think incompetence, though there's obvious malign neglect in the whole culture. At some point in time you have to stop giving people the benefit of the doubt. That I haven't reached this point is proven by this letter: otherwise I'd go legal without warning them.

4 comments:

mythusmage said...

I hope it goes well for you, Zoe.

BTW, you've been tagged.

Anonymous said...

Bets of luck with this, Zoe. I have now contacted the APO about my own case and await their reply. I wonder how many other Australians are affected by this mess?

SnoopyTheGoon said...

"At some point in time you have to stop giving people the benefit of the doubt."

I am not sure that there is room for much doubt. The rephrased Occam's Razor works for this case as well: never ascribe to malice what could be explained by stupidity.

And one could be hardly mistaken in looking for stupidity in the bureaucratic circles.

Anonymous said...

Hello Zoe. I wrote to the Passports people asking them about my passport bearing in mind the AAT decision. Their reply completely ignores the AAT decision and my quoting it and is blandly anodyne, useless in fact, a mere sop to shut me up.

So, I have done what the Ombudsman has suggested and will now contact him again with this result and see where he gets with it.

This is sickening, this ongoing dance of the shaved monkeys.