Members of the Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry voiced dissatisfaction following a session with the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Services Authority (ICSA) this morning at the Lae Golf Club.
The first-of-its-kind immigration awareness session covered general information on immigration policies, work permits, the APEC Business Travel Card and the newly-launched sponsor portal.
Chemcare Group HR Manager, Ritha Maisen-Maken, said the session did not sufficiently cover major areas of concerns in relation to the private sector.
“It would be good if the work permit team had come out as well because in this session, it was more immigration,” she said. “If the work permit team came out, that would’ve been a really good one session for everyone.”
During question-and-answer time, Maisen-Maken expressed her frustration to the ICSA officers at making duplicate payments, where the money was forfeited to the state despite their constant follow-ups.
“And they have not been in communication with us and suddenly, it dragged into 12 months and they said, it’s been 12 months so it’s going to be forfeited, which is not fair because we’ve been communicating and asking them to give us the refund but they haven’t.
“A lot of the questions would’ve been relevant to work permit as well, so some of the questions that were asked and not appropriately answered, you would’ve heard the advisor trying to brush me off to say, ‘That is specific to you. The question you ask is specific to you’. I said, ‘That’s not. It is relevant to anybody in this room. If they did duplicate payments, what happens?’”
Other concerns that were raised included the ICSA’s generic email that leaves queries unanswered or applications get ignored.
The Chemcare Group HR Manager emphasised that time is of the essence and delays in these vital services hamper their operational requirements, also impacting their profit and loss statements.
The ICSA team advised the business community to get their email addresses and contact them directly, to avoid getting “bounced from one officer to the next”.
When contacted, Chief Migration Officer, Stanis Hulahau said this is their first outreach program that he has initiated, and it will continue.