No more visa woes for this Aussie duo

KUCHING: An Australian couple has finally received an extension to their one-year social visit pass under the Sarawak Property Programme after six months of trying to renew it.

Spencer John Hickey Wray and his wife Ann had been going to the Immigration Department every month since January to renew their limited social visit pass, which is valid for only a month because of a bureaucratic hitch.

The couple, both retired teachers, had purchased a house in Tabuan Desa here in October 2004 under the Sarawak Property Programme, which entitles them to a one-year social visit pass.

Last June, they sold the property and bought a new house in Tabuan Desa Utara.

Relieved: Ann holding a letter from the Immigration Department informing the couple that their one-year visa has been approved. Seated behind her are Yong and Spencer.

In December, when the Wrays wanted to extend their one-year visa, they were told to reapply for the programme because they had purchased a new house.

“We were told to produce a quit rent book in reapplying for the programme. However, we could not produce it for the simple reason that the document did not exist yet, as the house was new property,” Spencer said.

They then sought the assistance of Pending assemblyman Violet Yong, who discovered that the couple’s application had been forwarded to the State Secretary’s office on May 10.

“When I called the State Secretary’s office last week, I found out that the application had been approved.

“Last Wednesday, Ann received a call from the Immigration Department informing her of the approval,” Yong said at the DAP’s Kuching service centre yesterday.

Despite their visa problems, the Wrays plan to stay on.

“We thought strongly about going back to Australia because the situation was over our heads.

“But now that we’ve got the visa, we want to stay. We love this place,” Spencer said.

Yong urged the state government to come up with clear guidelines and a proper handbook on the Sarawak Property Programme.

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