Photo: Olivier Zuida Archives Le Devoir IRCC is responsible for admissibility assessments, including medical assessment and security assessment, which are prerequisites before receiving permanent residence.
Sarah R. Champagne
Posted at 4:00 p.m. Updated at 4:19 p.m.
- Canada
Laurence Ameline, a 53-year-old nurse who was threatened with deportation, received her work permit late Wednesday morning. “His application was refused in error,” admitted Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in an email to Devoir.
An agent from this ministry refused to extend the work permit of this woman who arrived from France in February 2021 to join the CHUM pulmonology department. The reason given in the refusal letter from IRCC is that she did not provide her job offer number, which she claimed to have done in the company of the human resources department.
This process was initiated last November, but she retained the right to work while awaiting a response from IRCC. When the decision came down on March 2, she immediately lost her right to work and her immigration status. The letter was categorical in this regard: “You do not hold temporary resident status in Canada. If you do not wish to apply for reinstatement, you must leave Canada immediately. »
“The situation has been corrected,” IRCC now says.
Ms. Ameline received the news with great relief. “It’s a beautiful day,” she exclaimed. She will therefore be able to stay in Quebec and return to service at the CHUM, where she had been employed for more than three years.
Photo: Marie-France Coallier Le Devoir Laurence Ameline, nurse at CHUM
She found this situation “very anxiety-provoking” and “stressful”. “I know I’m not unique. We are powerless against this wall of immigration,” she confided to Devoir. She particularly deplored not being able to speak to a person on the line during her calls to the ministry and had contacted the office of the deputy of the constituency where she lives.
She also submitted an application for permanent residence last fall, for which she took the first step at the provincial ministry. Under the skilled worker program, the delays are around nine months, the federal ministry said, which completes recent steps. IRCC is responsible for admissibility assessments, including medical assessment and security assessment, which are prerequisites before receiving permanent residence.