Thought for the week 002 – Ridiculus Red Tape

How much have you been abused by Red tape?

Summary : Annoying customer service misinformation, almost draconian procedures, and stupid loop holes.

Story : Recently my girlfriend, who has recently arrived in Australia from Russia was trying to pass her drivers licence learners theory test. I drove her into the city, we walked to the office on Tuesday, filled in an application form, took a ticket number and waited in line, only to be told that her Russian Passport, translated birth certificate, plus a number of other documents aren’t enough, and that she needs the passport and two documents with her name and current address on it.
We returned the next day, parking, taking a ticket, waiting in line, only to be told that her passport, tax file number letter, and a payslip (both of which had her name and address on it) were not enough. This time the woman at the booth showed us a list of valid ID types, and explained that Anya (my girlfriend) needs a letter, or some sort of card with her details, which is signed by herself and someone else. One such document was a letter of introduction from the bank.
Off we went up the hill to CPS credit union, to open an account. Upon showing her Russian passport the bank officer advised she can only open the account a restricted account for foreigners as she did not have her permanent residence visa. The restrictions included not having Internet banking, nor a visa card.

We then went back to the Motor Transport office, however they had closed the testing for the day. We had to come back YET AGAIN. Thankfully when we came back the next day, she completed the test with only one question wrong, and no problems.

The crazy thing about the whole situation is that I opened an account for myself at the same branch of the bank, the day before she did, but using only my drivers licence as ID.
So theoretically, once she receives her drivers licence card, she could open up a full bank account before she gets her Permanent Residence visa.