Immigration delay leaves Outaouais cancer patient waiting years for parents' arrival

Every day, Outaouais resident Maria Fernanda Maxil Platas waits patiently for news from immigration officials that she'llbe permanently reunited with her aging parentshere in Canada.

Thousands of kilometresaway, just outside Mexico City, her parents do the same.

Maxil Platas isin Canada alone, and after three years of waiting and a recent breast cancer diagnosis her frustration isgrowing.

As an only child, the 36-year-old says her parents rely on her for helpas they grow older, and they in turn have helped her through her cancer treatment. In this family, the caretaking goes both ways.

"It's a night-and-day difference having someone at home that cares for you," shesaid. "It [would allow]me to continue my recovery in high spirits."

Maxil Platas moved to Montreal in 2010 to pursue her studies, becamea Canadian citizen in 2018 and settled in the Outaouais.

In 2021, shestarted the sponsorship process for her parents through a federal government program. After hearing back from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) a few months later, she was left in the dark.

It was only after contacting her MPand CBCin Februarythat Maxil Platasfinally received an update. She was told it could take up to 50 months to bring her parents to Canada.

"If we say that we're a nation that's welcoming of newcomers, the system needs to be improved," she said. "These immigration processes, they need to be human."

Asked about the case,IRCCdid not release any additional details to CBC beyond the estimated timeframe already provided.

Seniors the 'bottom of the barrel'

Maxil Platas isn't alone. According to thelatest datafrom the IRCC,nearly one million immigration applications are in backlogincluding:

• 570,900 permanent residence applications.
• 309,300 temporary residence applications.
• 49,800 citizenship applications.

The typical processing time under IRCC's parents and grandparents program is26 months across the rest of Canada, but in Quebecit's 51 months.

Betsy Kane, an immigration lawyer in Ottawa, callsthat wait time"unconscionable."

"How would you like it if you wanted to bring your spouse and you were in this queue?" Kane asked.

Cases like Maxil Platas'sare given lower priority than those ofeconomic immigrants including foreign workers and international students, Kane said.

"Senior citizens are kind of at the bottom of the barrel because they're not key to sustaining the economy.That's why you're seeing those processing times," she said.

Maxil Platas'sMPGreg Fergustold CBC that he can'tdivulge specific details about IRCC-related cases for confidentiality reasons.

"It is with sadness that I learn of the challenges she and her family are facing," Fergus said in a written statement. "Unfortunately, Members of Parliament have limited power to intervene in these processes."

New visa requirements criticized

Late last month, the federal government reimposed visa requirements on Mexican nationals visiting Canada.

The Conservative governmentimposed a visa requirement on Mexicoin 2009 to stem the flow of asylum claims. The Trudeau governmentrelaxed it in 2016.

American border officials saidsome Mexican nationals were using Canada's visa-free rule to fly into the country and then cross illegally into the United States by land.

"Quebec was pushing the feds to reimpose a visa because they were dealing with an unprecedented amount of applications," Kane said.

The new requirements won't impact the processing time for visa applications, according to Kane, but it will affect her parents if they'd like to visit.

"It's an extra layer of bureaucracy," she said. "If you were bringing your parents or grandparents for a visit last month, you didn't need a visa. Now they can't get here without being vetted through the Canadian consulate in Mexico."

Kane suggested her parents applyfor a "super visa,"which allows them to visit their children or grandchildren for up to five years. Some have criticizedthat programfor being expensive and restrictive.

She said she finds the process frustrating.

"You're never able to talk to anybody. You have to navigate through web pages with information that's not accurate. There's like threedifferent trackers. It's just so, so hard to go throughthat."

Ottawa Morning10:23An Outaouais woman with cancer has been waiting since 2021 to bring her parents to Canada from Mexico. The government says theres a 50-month wait.

Maria Fernanda Maxil Platas, a Canadian citizen and resident of Outaouais, says her application to sponsor her parents and bring them to Canada through the Parents and Grandparents Program has been in limbo for three years. She shares her frustrations with Canadas immigration system just weeks after the federal government announced that Mexican citizens will once again need a visa to come to Canada.