Today I had two dealings with bureaucracy; one Swedish – extending the limit on my credit card, and one Australia – getting a visa for Oziel to visit my homeland.

First I received a letter from my bank in Sweden offering to extend the limit on my credit card. To take up this offer I only needed to send an SMS. This does not seem unusual in Sweden, as I have completed my last two tax declarations by sending an SMS.

If only the visas to visit Australia were so simple. The easiest visa for this trip has a 14 page form, requires additional documentation and will take approximately 6 week from submission to receipt, during which time Oziel will not have access to his passport. While I can understand the desire to keep Australia safe, given I have now been to 27 countries without ever applying for a tourist visa prior to departure, I have to wonder if Australia has gone too far. Admittedly for my last trip to the US I filled in a form online prior to departure, but it was free and assessment was instant.