The spacious apartment in southeast 麻豆传媒映画is bright, stylish and boasts a lovely view of the Fraser River. Its the kind of place that Ali and his family would like to stay for a while and after 3 1/2 years and $60,000 spent trying to secure permanent residency in Canada, hes holding his breath that they can.
Its a little hard to plan when you dont know for sure, says the 37-year-old father of two. Out of concern for their pending immigration application under British Columbias Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), Ali and wife Sara, 28, asked that their real names be withheld.
Considering that theyve spent the better part of a decade searching for a nation their family can call home, their apprehension is understandable.
Originally from Iraq, Ali and Sara met as children but were separated in the mid-90s when their families fled the countrys growing instability. He wound up in California, while she grew up in Europe. They reconnected as adults and Sara moved to the States intent on starting a family with Ali and settling down. But when she accidentally overstayed her student visa the pair was thrust into a 10-year search for a safe place they could raise their children, hold down jobs and finally put down some roots.
Mexico proved too unstable. Next, they tried Holland, but Ali didnt speak Dutch and it would be years before his language skills were good enough for the job market. They managed to make it back into the States once when a border guard didnt check Saras visa status, but staying there would mean shed have to go underground. We looked at it like: She cant drive, she cant work, she cant go nowhere. I think its better to do it the right way. To go somewhere else and live somewhere else, he says.
By now, they had two kids and with their oldest approaching school age, they were desperate to settle. Canada, which theyd only experienced on airport layovers, was top of the list and B.C.s PNP was their best option.
Billed as a fast track to permanent residency for skilled workers, post-graduates and health professionals, B.C.s PNP began accepting low-skilled and semi-skilled workers on a pilot basis about three years ago. The expansion was a bid to fill pre-Olympic (and pre-recession) vacancies in the hospitality, restaurant and trucking industries, says Saleem Spindari, community outreach co-ordinator with immigrant services provider MOSAIC.
A couple years ago in B.C. there was a demand for many of those jobs and not many Canadians and permanent residents are willing to do those jobs, he says, noting that even as the job market has tightened considerably, foreign workers still often staff low-end service jobs.
Whereas the federally regulated Temporary Foreign Worker program issues short-term work visas for low-skilled workers that are unlikely to lead to immigration, Spindari says successful entrants to the PNP have a high probability of obtaining permanent resident status.
Thats leading many temporary foreign workers to seek out employers willing to sponsor them under the program, or at least make it look like they do. But like the flawed TFW program, PNP ties them to one job for one employer, opening many up to exploitation.
It makes it very hard for workers because even though they are sometimes exploited, they wouldnt be able to voice their concerns because at the end of the day, the employer would be the one who would sponsor them, Spindari says. Under PNP workers must work for nine consecutive months for the same employer before they can apply for permanent resident status and must remain in that job until the application is processed. That can take years, and if workers are laid off or quit during that time, they have to start the process over again with a new employer.
Ali, a former teacher, lucked out. He found a business owner at an East 麻豆传媒映画restaurant willing to hire him as a server and apply for a labour market opinion the official designation stating the employer cannot find a Canadian to fill the job on his behalf. He then went back to Mexico, where Sara and the kids were biding their time and waited for the papers to clear.
Six months later, with no visa in sight, the family took a leap of faith and moved to Canada on tourist visas in 2008. They spent another several months waiting for Alis work visa to clear, living off the proceeds of two properties hed sold and jumping through hoop after hoop to get Saras papers approved. It took six trips to the border to satisfy immigration officials that everything was in order. Even with their immaculate record keeping, including medical checks and security clearance from every country theyd lived in, Ali says Canadian border guards made it clear that their applications could be revoked at any time, for any reason. He recalls one particular comment from a Canadian border guard who was apparently having a bad day: Hes like: dont think youre going to get your visa just because you have everything ready.
The uncertainty is grating, but Ali is in a fortunate position. His boss treats him well. Though hes not passionate about being a server, he says his employer is fair and the work is satisfactory and its worth it to give his kids the chance for a better life. For others, the constant threat of deportation leads them to put up with exploitive work conditions, or play bureaucratic sleight of hand.
Ive met people whove paid owners just to get hired, he says, explaining hes seen people pay business owners to issue paycheques in order to satisfy the provincial requirements. Then they go make their money in a cash economy. Its a dress youre wearing, but youre not that person.
Other times employers force PNP participants to work overtime without pay, load them with responsibilities falling far outside their job descriptions, harass them at work or worse. Ive seen a lot of people, once they have a work permit, theyre basically a slave, he says. But no matter what they do to you, you cant complain. If you complain, [they tell you to] leave. And after you go here, spent all that money and did all the work you did, you dont just want to leave everything and go back. You think Ill wait, its OK, Im suffering but Ill wait.
It didnt happen to me, but Ive seen a lot of people complaining and nobody will listen to them they have no program for that. The foreign workers dont have any backup.
As for his family, its been more than a year since they submitted a two-foot stack of paperwork to Citizenship and Immigration Canada and watched the estimated wait time for processing grow from eight to 10 to now 13 months.
Ali is hopeful theyll get their approval any day now. But after so much uncertainty they cant discount the possibility theyll be forced to start over again somewhere else. If that happens, Ali says hes prepared. Ill never look back Ill just go to a different place.
