Court decision reunites family
‘Don’t give up,’ says Filipino woman after long battle with immigration officials
A 10-year immigration battle that at times felt like a never-ending slog for an Edmonton woman has ended with a permanent family reunion.
“Don’t give up,” said Mely Fernandez, 52, a Filipino woman who was reunited with her two adult daughters April 19 after they arrived in Canada as permanent residents. “I have to be with my family.”
The victory culminating in a federal-court decision came more than a decade after Fernandez should have been eligible to bring her family to Canada, her lawyer, Shirish Chotalia, said Thursday.
Fernandez arrived in Edmonton from the Philippines in 2002 as a live-in caregiver, leaving her daughters with extended family. Her sister, who had immigrated to Edmonton in 2000, had encountered a smooth immigration process.
Fernandez started the process to become a permanent resident, applying for her dependent daughters to join her. But in 2007, Fernandez’s youngest daughter Mia Denise Fernandez, now 21, was deemed medically inadmissible because of a disability.
The applications were tied together, so it meant Fernandez was rejected as well, Chotalia explained.
“She has made a tremendous sacrifice of her life to work here and remit money back to the Philippines,” said Chotalia.
Fernandez was granted a temporary permit that eventually led to permanent residency status in 2014. But her daughters, including her eldest Zeina, were still barred from immigrating.
“All along she was told her daughters would come,” said Chotalia, who has been working on the case for around a decade.
Over the years, factors that hindered the applications — Fernandez made several — included her youngest daughter’s disability as well as the age of Zeina, now 24, who became an adult during the process.
After receiving permanent residency in 2014, there was a back and forth between immigration authorities in Edmonton and Manila before a final rejection was sent to Fernandez last year telling her that her daughters were denied.
Chotalia filed the case with Federal Court, arguing that there had been a breach of procedure under the Immigration Act.
“Immigration law is very complex ... In my view they simply got it wrong ... This case is certainly one I believe deserved humanitarian compassionate treatment,” she said. “She has sacrificed her life, has never been out of work, has paid taxes.”
For Fernandez, who now works as a health-care aide, each rejection was brutal.
“It felt like the end of the world,” she said.
For the last 15 years, the family has only had annual visits when Fernandez could return home.
“It feels so lonely ... at times when our mother is not with us,” said Zeina Fernandez. “When we received the visas, we felt excited.”
“I love Canada,” added Mia Denise Fernandez.
Their mother has advice for other live-in caregivers who are frustrated with the immigration process: “Be patient ... Fight for your rights.”