St. John's woman left fuming — and stranded in Chile — over immigration red tape
'It looks like they don't care,' says Constanza Safatle
"I'm so angry. I'm so tired to be an example of [an] immigrant, to be a champion of immigrants," a tearful woman says, surrounded by busy travellers in a South American airport.
"I paid for this service. I paid to get my permanent residence and they didn't send me the card."
The video, posted to social media this week, captured a painful moment for Constanza Safatle — a Chilean who's lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, her permanent home, for the last seven years.
Safatle is stuck in Chile due to what she's characterizing as negligence by the federal immigration system.
She says her Canadian permanent residency was approved in August but her card never arrived. Now, because of a tangled nexus of immigration rules and regulations, it could take weeks before she's allowed to return to Canada.
That delay has taken her freedom, she says — the culmination of a years-long battle with federal red tape.
Safatle says she now needs to send documents to Argentina, and wait at least two weeks to hear back, before she can try once again to return home. It's the latest setback for the St. John's business owner, who says she's had to get full-time employment in addition to running her business just to qualify for residency.
"Canada … betrayed all this effort that newcomers are trying to do, and the provincial government is trying to do, advocating for us," she said Tuesday.
"Maybe they don't realize that behind the papers are families, are new Canadians."
Thousands waiting for residency: Byrne
Provincial Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne expressed frustration at the waiting times newcomers face.
Byrne said 5,100 applications for permanent residency are stuck in a backlog and must be processed before those newcomers can move to Newfoundland and Labrador.
"The is a province which needs people, which has to grow its population.… That [backlog] has to change," Byrne said. "That work has to get done.… We need a presence of the federal Immigration Department in our province to be here with us."
Immigration and Citizenship Canada said in a statement that travel documents can be requested ahead of travel outside the country if someone hasn't received their PR card.
"Additionally, if an applicant follows the instructions provided by the government of Canada, they should not encounter any problems with the processing of their travel document to return home. In most cases, applications are [processed] quickly and allow the applicant to return home," the statement said.
"We remain committed to processing applications in a timely manner and we encourage applicants to apply as early as possible to avoid delays."
Safatle may be in Chile over Christmas, separated from her children and husband in Canada.
"I feel like I belong to Newfoundland and Labrador. And they show through actions … this is a problem of [the] federal government," she said.
"This happens to many others. This happens for [a] long time. And it looks like they don't care."
With files from Adam Walsh