An Irish woman who married a New Brunswick man says she is in desperate need of a miracle before her life is turned upside down.
Anna Graham says paperwork delays and bureaucratic red tape are creating a nightmare for her and her three children, who could be deported back to Ireland next week.
“My flight is around 12 o’clock to Montreal,” says Graham. “It is going to be pretty scary. The border patrol people are meeting me at the airport.”
An Irish citizen, Graham met her Canadian husband, Shawn, about three years ago.
She joined him in Moncton over a year ago with her three children from another relationship, entering Canada on a visitor Visa.
Five weeks later, she began the paperwork to become a Canadian citizen.
“I was told over and over and over that I needed all the passports. I needed to have complete documents. Even in writing when you go on the website, it says you have to have everything complete before you send it off,” says Graham.
But one of her child’s passport’s had expired and, while in the process of renewing it, it was lost. It took months to replace it.
Graham’s lawyer, Lee Cohen, says he’s not sure why an exception wouldn’t be granted in the case, given that Graham married a Canadian.
He says similar exceptions have been made many times before.
“We are going to make a request of the minister to take a closer look at this and hopefully the minister will exercise a ministerial discretion and order a ministerial stay of this removal order,” says Cohen.
An Immigration Services provider says the paperwork over the years has gotten a great deal more complex and dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s can make the difference between a ‘yes’ or a ‘no.’
“Different agencies, they work in different ways so you always have to apply before it’s too late,” says settlement co-ordinator Irina Raduly.
Graham has been told it could take up to two years to get back to Canada, if all goes in her favour.
“I don’t want to go. As I said, I want to work. I want to study. My kids are happy here. We are happy here. This is our home. We don’t have anything in Ireland.”
Unless government intervenes, Graham’s flight leaves Nov. 7.
With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell
