Resolution

It has been a long time since my last blog post. I have no idea if anyone even read what I wrote, but maybe someone in need of assistance who is in the same position I was will find this. I finally received my PR card a few months back. That was a giant relieve because even though I have been back working again for some time it meant I wouldn't have to worry about being back in the same position again. Financially we are still recovering, it is amazing how long it takes to catch up once you get behind. Anyway, life is back to its normal ups and downs. I have been steady in the same job I got since the pilot program was introduced. Now I can only complain about not getting paid enough and not getting enough vacation time, haha. Jenn was laid of over the quiet season at her job but ended up getting a job that is pretty perfect for her, this is where she now works: http://hairflair.ca If you are reading this because you are looking for a way to work while waiting for residence in Canada then this is the link for you: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/2015-12-11.asp Feel free to comment if you need more information.

9 months of forced unemployment

Well still no resolution to the major issues for my family. It has been 9 months since I was able to work. 9 months is a long time to be forced to be on the bones of your ass living in poverty. Struggling week to week to provide the basics for your family. I mean to put this in perspective in comparison to now I lived a wealthy lifestyle when I was a university student.

110 days have passed since CIC received my application for an open work permit under their pilot program. Three weeks ago the processing time was 100 days. Now they say check back in 6 days time. I can just imagine the advertisement for a job processing CIC applications: "Must be able to delay things as much as possible and do the minimum possible amount of work", I mean come on, my application must have been one of the first received when the pilot program started, yet it takes four months to process an application....An application where all of the answers they need are right there in the computer in front of them. " Yes I see a PR application in process, yes this guy has legal status in the country", stamp, done go find a job. Four months, come on. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that Canada is still trying to make it as unattractive as possible to apply for residence inland.

So what doesn't Canada know? They don't seem to know how much they are shooting themselves in the foot. They open an express entry program to get desirable professionals, including programmers such as myself, into the country to work in professions where they are short of bodies and brains to fill them, but there is a delay even with that. We need you, come to Canada please...oh but you can't work when you get here. I have had several programmers looking for a life change ask me if they should come to Canada to work, could I in good conscience say tell them it is a good idea when my experience would, and has, steered even the bravest of them to another country that would actually let them work and not force them to live in extreme poverty for an extended period of time. The fact of the matter is there is no way on gods green earth that I would still be here if there was any other choice for my family. Don't get me wrong, I love Canada, it is every bit as beautiful as my homeland, New Zealand, and I have met so many nice and amazing people over here. But with the dust gathering on the university educated mind that I spent $50,000 dollars on and no potential way to put it to use I would have taken my family somewhere I could make use of it rather than living in the exact circumstances I aimed to avoid by putting myself through university in the first place.

So not only will one department of the government will not let me work, but another has demanded the child care tax benefit back from Jenn from the year before we were even together based on my income in New Zealand. Let me really stress this, they want thousands of dollars back for the year BEFORE Jenn and I were a couple, when we had two separate households to run, I obviously contributed nothing at all to her household. Every other government department considers that it takes a year of living together before being considered a common law couple, apparently this one considers it a year before we had ever even laid eyes on each other.

The situation is grim right now. I mean the only ones prospering in our house hold are the god damned mice in the basement because we can't even afford traps and poison to deal with the issue let alone an exterminator to come and properly take care of the issue. Maybe things will start getting better for us soon, maybe this time CIC will stick to its own time line instead of endlessly extending them, maybe within another month I will be working again, but so much damage has already been done, we are at least $20,000 in debt that could have been avoided and it has already cost me one very good job that I hoped to build a long term career in.

Its time for a change Canada, stop shooting yourself in the foot, stop making every other country a more desirable option for the professional people that you want here who can actually contribute to your economy. Wake the f*#k up, and while you are at it stop scamming all of your citizens by charging them tax on sales of second hand vehicles, I mean seriously, how many times do you need people to pay tax on the sale of the same item, its just plain wrong.

CBC Article

https://www.dropbox.com/s/78eyansle8pk9nt/cic-limbo-151214_2500kbps.mp4?dl=0

Donations

I have been informed that some generous people have been in contact with CBC looking for a way to assist us with our financial struggle. I have set this page up Thank you so much for your donations, we appreciate it so much more than I even have the words to express.

Thanks a lot Canada

To whom it may concern,

I have emailed MP's several times about the issues my fiancée, Blair Hacche, and our entire family is facing with Canadian immigration. The issue now is that CIC are about to force me to decide which of my two Canadian children I can live with. Some people may blame my fiancée for separating me from one of my children but we strongly believe the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the Canadian government and we will relentlessly push to have the Canadians governments inhumane treatment and lack of compassion to our family exposed in every world wide media outlet we possibly can. We would like to expose the propaganda that the Canadian government tries to sell by claiming to be a nation that places a lot of importance on family values and unity, that is not what they have shown us.

The basics again are that Blair is a 35 year old computer programmer from New Zealand. I am a 33 year old Canadian woman, with a 6 year old son, Ewan, from a past marriage. Ewan’s father is Canadian. Blair arrived in Canada on the 2nd of February 2013, was here for 6 months as a visitor and then got a non-extendible 12 month working holiday visa. In November 2013 we had a child together. His name is Dexter Hacche. When Blairs work permit was a month away from expiring and he was informed that the company he worked for would offer him a 12 month extension to his contract through the recruiter he worked for. Blair called CIC many times to make sure he knew his options and what he should do. CIC neglected to tell him the most obvious solution which I will speak about shortly and instead told him that his only option was to get his employer to obtain a labour market impact assessment (LMIA). At this point there was around a month left on his working visa and he asked the recruiter to obtain the LMIA on his behalf. The recruiter took three and a half weeks to inform him that they would not do it despite him calling and emailing more than once a day to get an answer from them. Blair was very short on time by the time the recruiter informed him of the bad news. At this point Blair urgently attempted to get an appointment with an immigration lawyer, however none were available to him in the required time frame. He did however get to speak to an immigration lawyer on the phone.

Neither CIC nor the immigration lawyer he spoke to informed him that if he sent a work permit application right along with the permanent residence application he had ready to send he would have been able to stay in Canada and continue working on an implied status for the entirety of the extremely long wait time for processing of the PR application. Instead CIC informed Blair that if he sent an on-line work permit application he would be able to continue working on an implied status for the month it took to process that work permit application. Blair says he would be happy to assume blame for the situation had that best option actually been displayed to him on the CIC website or provided by the CIC representatives or that information was actually made more readily available by CIC. Instead Blair was given bad advice and it has put us in a terrible position. When the work permit application was refused we were informed that Blair had 90 days to restore his status as a visitor or submit another application. Blair spoke to CIC and they advised him to sent a letter claiming that a mistake had been made by CIC on the application which he did since the refusal stated that he needed a LMIA and he was actually applying for an open work permit to be a self employed consultant. A month and a half later CIC finally advised him that the review was unsuccessful. He then submitted an application to restore his status as a visitor so that he would not be forced to split our family apart and to give us time to figure out a solution to our financial issues.

Blair met with an immigration lawyer recently and was informed that not only would a LMIA through a recruiter be denied as Canada will not grant them through a recruiter, but he would have to have a job offer that would pay at least $32 an hour directly with the company he would work for before a LMIA would be successful. This is an impossible ask in his position. Worse yet the immigration lawyer stated that he firmly believes that in our situation the Canadian government will refuse his application to restore his status as a visitor and he will be forced to leave Canada.

We are totally disappointed and disenchanted with the Canadian government and their apparent lack of regard for our family and our situation. Blair is rapidly losing interest in living in Canada at all as he states that he knows many foreigners, including Canadians, who live in New Zealand and have not been forced under any of the stress or difficulties that the Canadian government are forcing us under.

So what is the result of this process?

Blair is making plans to sell the house he purchased for our family to live in here in Canada, and to pay another $8000 to ship his possessions back to New Zealand. He will have to cancel his inland residence application and will lose the $550 spent on that since the application is open but has not even begun to be processed yet. He insists that our son Dexter Hacche will return to New Zealand with him and it is hard to fight that since Dexter and Blair are like two peas in a pod. Dexter is so happy when he is with his father and they do everything together. He also states that the government in New Zealand will provide a lot more financial support that I would get if he was to leave him here with me. I have considerable debt here due to a custody battle over Ewan between my ex and I. We can’t afford to run two households 13,000km apart. Therefore our house in Canada will be sold and Blair may purchase a property back in New Zealand. If I remain I will likely be living in my parents basement to be able to pay off the debts. I am not a bad or uncaring mother, and in fact it will most likely literally kill me to not be with one of my sons but I can’t provide for both of my sons alone and Canada may be forcing me into making a sacrifice that no one should be forced to make.

To make this extremely clear the Canadian government has given me 4 options:

1. Try to convince Blair to be the one who makes the sacrifice no parent should have to make, I lose Blair and he loses his entire family.
2. Let Blair and Dexter leave so I lose my fiancée and one of my sons. I lose one of my Canadian born sons and my fiancée.
3. I go to New Zealand with Blair and Dexter. I lose my 6 year old son who’s father will not allow him to leave with me and he loses his mother.

To be completely honest we feel like any government who claims that family value and unity is such a big thing in this country should either open up their eyes and take a look at how policies are making it a blatant lie and maybe change the claim to the Canadian government has no regard or concern whatsoever about family values and unity if one of those family members is not Canadian. There was an article published in the Dorchester signpost this week about out family and our problem. This is CIC’s media response about our issue:

CIC media relations adviser/spokesperson for the western region, Sonia Lesage, said in an email statement that the Government of Canada is committed to improving processing times and reducing backlogs, and has taken action to do so and that they are improving the way they process applications so that it’s faster and more efficient.

“Just two years after the launch of the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification, the government has reduced the backlog by nearly 50 per cent. Had no action been taken over the long term, it was predicted that the backlog could have increased to 250,000 persons with wait times of 15 years by 2015.

“The Government of Canada is actively working to reunite families with their loved ones more quickly. CIC gives the highest priority to Family Class applications for spouses, partners and dependent children overseas, in support of its commitment to family reunification.”

So what is the Canadian governments intention here? Ruin lives by separating and destroying families and then trying to fix it by reuniting them later. The fact that the Canadian government can’t see past their own unfair policies and instead will cause the evil action of separating a parent from a child to me means that someone needs to really push and show the government the error of their ways, or failing that to push and show the Canadian people, and the rest of the world, the evil actions the Canadian government finds perfectly acceptable. 

Jenn Ward.

Hopelessness

Well, a long time has past and still no resolution. It took CIC a month and a half to review the refusal of my work permit and to refuse it again all the whole providing me with conflicting information. Post it here, no email it and it will be done within 24 hours, there is no email address so post it. Since you posted it a couple of weeks ago you will hear by the end of the week. Nope, you might never hear anything at all about it, they will definitely have a decision within a month, there is no way to know how long it will take them. I am sorry if this post seems negative about Canadian immigration but I have worked in several countries around the world and dealt with countless government agencies, and never have I ever been so badly messed around, misled, and let down.

We are getting further into debt and closer to bankruptcy and losing the house I bought for my family. There is no light at the end of the tunnel and no prospects for success. I can't help but wish we had the option of giving up and going to live in New Zealand for a while, I have tried everything and come out empty handed or empty pocketed to be more accurate. Apparently immigration doesn't care that I have Canadian kids to feed, I should just sit around with no income for a further 8 or 9 months waiting for first stage approval on my residence before I can actually buy diapers or baby food, but god no matter how much I try I just can't convince my 9 month old son to stop eating or pooping. The amount of stress this is putting on me has made me break out in hives for the first time ever and is also giving my fiance constant migraines and making her feel physically ill.

I was told I put the cart before the horse applying for a work permit before getting first stage approval on my residence application. How the hell could anyone in my position put the horse before the cart?

I came to Canada on a tourist visa for a few months, my Canadian girl friend got pregnant, so i got a 12 month working holiday permit, which was the only one available to me at the time, and got a job so I could support the family while my fiance was suffering from a very rough pregnancy and couldn't work. I applied for residence after 12 months when I was considered to be in a common law relationship. When my non-extendable work permit was running out I applied for a new work permit to allow me to work while waiting the 12 months for a residence application to get first stage approval. Some one please tell me what I did wrong here because I don't see how I could have done anything better?

So my advice to anyone considering coming to Canada and getting themselves into a position like mine is DON'T DO IT, not even if you think you have the money to get by for 2 years without working....I brought $130,000 into Canada  from New Zealand and it is gone.... Mortgage companies are not super excited to lend money to someone who isn't a resident and doesn't have a credit rating in Canada despite a perfect credit rating back home....so expect to pay double the down payment that someone else might. And if you do get a temporary work permit and are a professional with a decade of experience and glowing references prepare yourself to earn half what you used to.... Why would anyone want to hire someone who may just end up having to leave the country?.... And even when you do find a job you probably won't be able to get a second work permit and may have to leave your kids behind, missing their first steps, first words or other important milestones in your children's lives because you have to leave them behind to go home and work because there is such a big backlog of applications that it takes 18 months for a residence application. Maybe you would get luckier and work directly for a company or even for a halfway decent recruiter who will obtain a Labour market impact assessment for you instead of messing you around for weeks until it is too late to arrange anything.

Hey CIC, I have a fantastic idea for you. Why don't you give some of the people who you won't give work permits to jobs to help clear your backlog? Kill two birds with one stone. Or maybe you should just look at amending the rules to cater for the huge backlog so someone like me me with Canadian kids to feed doesn't get totally screwed.

Whoa Canada - by Jenn

I am a Canadian citizen; born and raised in this great country. My parents, and their parents, and their parents; born and raised in this great country. I have two beautiful sons and guess what? Yep; born and raised in Canada.

In 2003 I began a very special relationship with a young man from New Zealand.  We fell in love after communicating only online, and after only a few months. It’s a long and beautiful story. Unfortunately, the distance between us was too great and because we were in our early twenties we did not have the means to travel and meet one another even though that was our only heart’s desire. 

Eventually we both became involved in other relationships and we would go through periods of time where contact between us was minimal. However we always found our way back to one another and I believe the reason none of my other relationships worked in the past is because I never fully let go of Blair. I knew we were meant to be together and that he was my soul mate.

 In 2013 – ten years after we first fell in love with each other, Blair finally made it happen. We knew we had to be together. He quit his job, moved out of his home, packed up all of his possessions and flew to me. I met him at Pearson International airport on February 2^nd, 2013.  The feeling I had when I saw him approaching me for the first time – there are no words. I ran to him; in 5 inch heels. We didn't even say hello – we hugged and kissed. It was right out of a Hollywood movie.

Not long after, I became pregnant with our son Dexter. It was a surprise to say the least as we were using contraceptives, and even though it happened much sooner than we would have opted for, we knew that we wanted baby Dexter and that he was meant to be.

Blair purchased a home here in Canada, a lovely home in a quiet small town called Dorchester Ontario.  It is perfect for our family and is filled with a lot of love. Sadly, nowadays, it is filled with stress, struggle, and uncertainty. Blair is no longer able to work here as his work visa has expired. No; he didn't let it expire, he had applied to have it extended while we patiently wait for his permanent residency to go through. They denied the request.

There is a major flaw in the way that the Canadian immigration laws are set up and I would like to see someone really point it out to the public. If a foreigner gets a temporary work permit to work in Canada for whatever reason, married or common law partner and any dependants are allowed to accompany that person and will be given a no questions asked open work permit. However, if a foreigner is with a Canadian citizen by birth they can’t get that same open work permit.  Really, Canada??!!

Canadian immigration has been horrible for my fiancé to deal with. He has spoke with several representatives and each time is he been given different answers often answers which contradict one another. I'm embarrassed. I'm confused.

 

We totally understand and support Canada’s position on protecting Canadians by requiring the labour market impact assessment and not just handing out work permits to anyone who comes along. But he is not just someone who decided he wanted to live in Canada. He has me. He has a son and step son, a family, a life. I can tell you if I didn't have a son from a previous marriage, we probably would have left Canada for New Zealand and I highly doubt I would be having this extreme amount of stress just to be able to work. 

Blair sent his permanent residence application as soon as he could and if the application process in Canada didn't have such a ridiculous wait time he might have already passed the first stage approval and might already be eligible for an open work permit on that basis.

Right now we have a mortgage, credit card bills, $30,000 in legal fee’s, a $20,000 line of credit that is near maxed out, on top of car payments and insurance, the cost of raising children, food, utilities, etc but with only my small income to cover everything. Its hard enough to put food on the table. I can’t do it alone!!!!! I can barely sleep with the amount of stress I feel every day and I pray nothing comes up unexpectedly – a dental appointment, a vehicle needing repair…because our resources are next to exhausted. 

So what is next? Blair is forced to leave us to make money in New Zealand meanwhile we lose our house and I file for bankruptcy? So their “policies and procedures” aren't just affecting the foreigner any more, they are potentially catapulting me, a Canadian citizen and two Canadian children, into ruin… and through no fault of our own.  Blair has done everything by the books and has gone above and beyond what CIC has asked of him.  He’s provided the hundreds upon hundreds of documents required, and forked over tons of money.

 

Listen, we weren't expecting this to be easy. We were expecting it to be fair.