Bass River, N.S., family gets deportation reprieve

A family living in Bass River, who were told last fall they had to move back to England immediately, has been granted permanent residency.

Becky Platnauer said she was shocked to open the confirmation letter on Tuesday.

"I opened it and my first thought was 'Oh, I've made another mistake and they're returning the paper work,' but when I opened it, the letter of confirmation of permanent residency was in there," she said.

Her husband, Sean, said the approval came through the provincial nominee program — the same department that oversees the program that brought the Platnauers to Nova Scotia five years ago.

"We had a lot of support from various different areas, both provincial and the federal level," he said. "They actually saw what had happened was quite unreasonable. Technically, it may have been in the rules but there was no fault on our part, and I think everyone just realized that it was a good thing, we should stay and be able to progress and live normally."

Sean Platnauer has a message for others going through the immigration process in Canada.

"Don't just believe people that say they know the answers. You have to confirm things with four or five different people and just keep double checking everything."

Their 17-year-old daughter, Angelica, is also thrilled she will graduate with her friends in Bass River next year.

"It means I can finally finish high school now. That was the concern before, that I would have to go back to the British system."

The Platnauers say they still have some paper work to do before their residency is finalized.