Immigration Nightmares...(the following is the "Gone With The Wind" Version of why we are moving to El Salvador for those that are interested.)
Eighteen years ago, just after attending Queens' University, I married an El Salvadoran named Douglas . We met in Banff, Alberta, @ The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, set in amongst the majestic Rockies.
Douglas had arrived in Canada about five years previous as a Refugee Claimant. He and his family were fleeing the civil war that was raging in El Salvador, and with his father being a General, they were especially at risk. However, shortly after claiming refugee status, his family made the error of travelling back to El Salvador for a brief visit and herein lies the problem. An "Exclusion Order" was placed on Douglas' file where it lay dormant for twenty-three years.
In the past twenty-three years, Douglas has accumulated quite a bit - eighteen years of marraige to a Canadian gal (me), two children, education, one business, (http://www.trinityavalonhair.webs.com/), house, cars, etc. In other words a life cemented in Canada.
Immigration Canada requested Douglas to attend an appointment in the summer of 2008. At the appointment, he was made to sign another "Exclusion Order" outlining removal from Canada. (I should note that "Removal" is a different legal term than "Deportation"). Removal allows the subject to return back to Canada after a one year term as long as the Spousal Application is processed, whereas with Deportation there is no chance of return. At the appointment, we explicity asked over and over "Does this mean he is going to be removed from Canada? Is this order going to be enforced?" We were assured over and over from the Immigration Officer that by the time it was sent out to the Toronto office, our other paperwork (Spousal Application) would have been finally processed. A week later we received a letter demanding him to report for a "Pre-Risk Removal Hearing". After dealing with Immigration for all these years, we were not surprised. Needless to say we scurried around soliciting advice from many Toronto lawyers. Instead of, (as one lawyer put it) "fight an uphill battle", we decided to embrace the circumstances we found ourselves in.
Hence, we started to unravel our Canadian lives. We put our house up for sale, moved our Salon back into the house (as it originally began) thinking it would be easier to scurry off to El Salvador, stored much of our personal memorabilia, furniture, etc. We had been told since the summertime that his forced departure would be imminent. Heck, I even sold our patio table and chairs at the end of August, thinking I would not be in Canada to see the warm weather again for quite some time, only to now wish we had something on the back deck to use. Our deck is bare now with only a lone rocking chair. We put our Christmas things into storage, only to have to battle all the bins and boxes in December to pull them out again as we found ourselves celebrating Christmas in Canada. (Interior design is very important to us, so we couldn't celebrate without our Christmas accoutrements around us!)
We have essentially been waiting for Immigration Canada to secure a fixed date for his departure. One of our lawyers commented that with Immigration Canada "the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing".We attend every meeting that we are demanded to go to. At one of the more recent meetings in January 2009, we were met by a very rude and beligerant officer, who felt he was very important. He was, at one point, not going to allow me to be present during the meeting to discuss Douglas' future, as if somehow removing my husband from Canada had nothing to do with me and my children. What was he so upset about? Well, how dare we approach the Receptionist and ask if he was going to be much longer (after all, he was only two hours late for our appointment). It was discovered at this meeting that the previous officer had not sent Douglas' passport away to be validated with the up-to-date photos we provided. I thought, post 9/11 that it would not be possible to fly on a old, invalid passport. The officer phoned the consulate and was told it was fine. Another appointment was made for weeks later. At the next appointment in February 2009, the same officer was not able to find Douglas' passport or IDs. This is not the first time this has happened. At one point, his entire file went missing for a year. Another time I was told by an Immigration officer over the phone that my husband was living in the U.S. and had not attended his Immigration meetings, therefore there was a warrant for his arrest. I asked her if she wished to speak with him, as he was sitting right next to me! (NB: even though Douglas has paid into the Canadian Tax system for the past 23 yrs, he has not been able to have an OHIP Health card - therefore, all hospital/medical visits were paid out of our pocket). At the February 2009 meeting, the officer alluded to the fact that we must have the passport! He went out of the Interrogation room for about 15 minutes and came back with another file that contained - you guessed it - Douglas' passport. He then said that he would not be able to fly with an invalid passport! He sent us away for an hour an a half while he made some phone calls to confirm the situation. When we returned he looked around the office for a further 10 minutes to find paperwork from the El Salvadoran Consulate that he needed us to fill out. When he handed it over to us, he said "Just phone the Consulate to make sure it is the right paperwork." The next day I phoned the Consulate and was told the paperwork was fine. We filled it out and returned a week later believing that we would now have a specific date of his departure. The previous letter we had received specified that he must be out of the country by March 29th, 2009. When we arrived at the next appointment, lo and behold, the officer did not even take the paperwork! He said that he did not need it and in fact, Douglas COULD fly with an invalid passport! As Hannah Montana would say - "Sweet Niblets"! He said he would then phone me the next day to give me a date of departure - of course, no phone call was received. He did state that April 12th would be the last possible day that Douglas would be able to stay in Canada, as he was getting "flack" from his superiors for letting Douglas stay past the March 29th deadline. At the time of this posting, we have another appointment on March 24th, at which time we are both hoping for a definitive date of departure and ticket in hand.
That concludes my extremely edited version of our experience with Canadian Immigration.
Douglas is both excited and anxious to be going back in a matter of weeks to a country he has not seen for many years - one he will find has changed quite a bit I am sure. He has some much older brothers living there that he will stay with temporarily. I am awaiting the sale/closing of our house before I am able to join him there. I will continue to work until our departure. As the dates get closer and closer, loose ends are being tied, more furniture being stored, lists are being made, more arrangements and lots of research being done! Myself and our girls are trying to learn the basics of Spanish (does Chica Chica Boom Boom count?) when we have a moment to do so, but to be honest are failing quite miserably at this goal. We are all incredibly excited and looking forward to our new lives in Latin America.
Smiles & Chuckles,
Jane
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