Plans to outsource visa processing are scary

Plans to outsource visa processing are scary, according to a former immigration official. Abul Rizvi, a former departmental deputy secretary says “the potential for a private provider to create a fast and slow lane for processing had ‘frightening’ long-term implications and the proposed use of applicants’ data for marketing purposes was ‘appalling.’ Rizvi joins the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia in expressing concern about the outsourcing plan, which has not received a final sign-off from the cabinet after months of testing the market for expressions of interest.”