Barrie resident Robert Thiessen recently addressed the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which is looking into the impact of COVID-19 on the immigration system.
He shared the details of the complex and lengthy process that he and his family went through when adopting their second son, Samuel, from Nigeria last year.
Thiessen was contacted by the committee after reading his story on his website, where he blogs about his personal life, including his experience with adoption.
In July 2019, Robert Thiessen, wife Lisa and their adopted seven-year-old son Solomon arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of the journey to adopt three-year-old Samuel.
The family estimated the adoption process would be similar to that for their older child, which was roughly six months. Knowing that, they sold their home in Alliston, quit their jobs, put their personal belongings into storage and headed to Africa, expecting to be back in Canada in early 2020.
Little did they know a pandemic was just around the corner, complicating an already complex process.
"Our expectation was based on our first son’s adoption from Ethiopia in 2015. We received Solomon’s facilitation visa, three months after we submitted his application," Thiessen said.
In September 2019, Samuel was granted a visa, which allowed him to travel to limited countries. The family decided to move to Ghana, to be closer to the Canadian High Commission in Accra, and rent an apartment until the visa was approved.
Between September 2019 and March 2020 the Thiessens made four inquiries about the status of their application. There was no response.
"In March of this year, we were in Accra, Ghana, desperate to get home. Ghana had closed its borders to all travel," he said. "The Canadian High Commission was organizing a repatriation flight for Canadian citizens and we were anxiously waiting for our newly adopted son’s facilitation visa to be processed by the Canadian Immigration Office in Accra."
They had submitted his application on Aug. 29, 2019, and since Sept. 9, 2019, they had not received any meaningful response or update from the immigration office, Thiessen explained.
"It took a global pandemic, creating noise through an email campaign, going to the media, and having the deadline of a repatriation flight, before the immigration office responded," Thiessen said in his testimony last week. "Again, even an appointment at the High Commission failed to get us a response.
"The transparency and communication from the immigration office in Accra is not acceptable by any standard," he added. "Canadian citizens, especially, deserve better."
In March, the Thiessens made a consular appointment at the Canadian High Commission, wondering how to proceed with the application during the pandemic. At the time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was urging Canadians abroad to return home.
The individual at the High Commission was unaware of the Canadian government’s advisory and was oblivious to their concern, Thiessen said. The family was assured that someone from the immigration office would contact them within two days — but no one ever did.
So the family took a different tack.
"With the help of our friends and family, we sent out letters to MPs, explaining the urgency of our situation and asked them to help us in our case. The response was terrific," said Thiessen. "We also reluctantly shared our story with the media. Given our situation, in a global pandemic, trying to get home and the immigration office’s neglect in providing any meaningful communication, we felt there was nothing to lose."
Finally, on March 24, the Accra immigration office requested additional information from the family, and six months after receiving the application, they were finally reviewing it.
Two days later, the family received Samuel’s facilitation visa and on March 30 they boarded a repatriation flight back home to Canada.
"We waited six months for Samuel’s application to be reviewed. While we waited, the Accra immigration office was indifferent to every inquiry we made. It was literally impossible to reach anyone by the prescribed channels, such as email, phone, through our MP and a consular visit," said Thiessen.
"The transparency and communication from the immigration office in Accra is not acceptable by any standard."
Thiessen says he understood that West Africa receives a lot of applications for visas, but insisted that Canadians should have some sort of priority.
"I think as a Canadian citizen when I go to another country and I go to the Canadian High Commission to the Canadian Immigration office, a Canadian citizen should have a little more than the average individual trying to get into Canada," he said.
"We were lucky and had Samuel’s application processed, but there are other Canadian adoptive families who are in limbo and they need assistance in having their applications processed in a timely manner," Thiessen added.
Adoption comes with many challenges: dealing with an agency of the Canadian government should not be one of them, he said.
"I wanted to draw attention to the fact that there are other adoptive families doing the same thing that we are, and adopting doesn't get any priority (with immigration)," Thiessen said.
York-Simcoe MP Scot Davidson attended a previous meeting of the committee on Nov. 18. He was one of the MPs who wrote letters and advocated for the Thiessen family, assisting their return.
"My colleagues and I in the Conservative Opposition have heard from countless families like the Thiessens who have been affected by the Liberal government’s mismanagement of our immigration system," Davidson said. "Applicants are not being treated with dignity, and families are being kept apart."
Since coming back to Canada, the Thiessens have happily settled into their new home in Barrie. Solomon is now in school and loving it, while Samuel is adjusting nicely to Canadian life, and the colder temperatures.
