By Richard Cuthbertson, CBC News | Link to Article
By Richard Cuthbertson, CBC News | Link to Article
Eight years after immigrating to Halifax, Racquel Talon has settled into life in Nova Scotia, first working as a live-in caregiver and then opening a house cleaning business with more than 30 clients.
But there’s one big part of her life missing: her five children still live in the Philippines.
Nearly five years after she first applied to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to have them join her, their applications for permanent residence are still being processed.
“I call, but it’s all the same. ‘You have to wait,'” Talon said. “After three months, again I call and it’s all the same. I have to wait.”
Talon’s case has caught the attention of nearly three dozen friends and clients who this fall signed a letter to federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander asking that he move things along.
The letter says they can’t understand why processing the applications is taking so long. It also argues Talon is just the type of immigrant Nova Scotia needs and should not remain separated from her family.