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Letters  

Immigration problems

I have three family members waiting on immigration, with one already facing the fact that she will probably have to go back home.

They all currently live with us in Kelowna. All three came to Canada in October 2023 in the hope of finding work and building a better life.

Initially, that seemed to work out very well. They immediately got job offers at Dairy Queen with an employment contract in December 2023. We hired an immigration company to make sure all the rules and regulations were adhered to. Visa extensions were issued as they waited for the labour market assessment to be approved. They also did all medical and lab exams, as well as English language proficiency exams, which they were passed.

In mid-2024, the LMIA was approved for all three. Next, the application for work permits were submitted, as well as criminal record checks.

As September rolled around, immigration started to change the rules for applicants far ahead of the set date of February 2025. Applications were still allowed to be submitted on line if you were in Canada at that point.

In January, work permits came in. One was approved and one was denied for obscure reasons (We will ask for a reconsideration of the application).

The next hurdle, now that one permit is approved, is we can’t go to the border and get it printed out as the border no longer offers this service. After numerous calls to border agents and Immigration Canada, it seems the only option is to fly out of the country and come back a week later.

We have been financially supporting the family members and paying the immigration fees and charges—which are significant—only to find out, with immigration Canada’s expedited time line, we are caught in limbo with applications and approvals and are now finalizing the actual work permits.

Everyone involved has committed to a considerable amount of time and money to do this properly and legally but it is very difficult when the rules keep changing every month or so.

I contacted my local MP, Dan Albus, but my calls and voicemails have gone unanswered.

I am reaching out to bring these situations to the attention of the public and politicians because people that are falling through the cracks of a broken system and government.

Mike Pittaway



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