Taroudant, Morocco- Moroccan Abderrahim Chakir has been waiting since 2008 to join his Canadian wife Karla Piedrasanta and his son Amin, 19 months, whom he has never met.
The couple were faced with a set of bureaucratic procedures that kept them apart, starting from delaying their marriage to turning down Chakir’s application to obtain a permanent visa to Canada.
“Every year we hope we will be together. We are doing everything we can to comply with the application process. My husband is missing our son growing up,” said Chakir’s wife, Karla Piedrasanta.
However, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada has other plans. They said the process was delayed because officials, in May 2012, “discovered that (Chakir) may have a medical condition that could pose a risk to the health and safety of Canadians, and would make him inadmissible to Canada.”
“It was determined that Mr. Chakir has a medical condition that requires treatment. CIC has informed Mr. Chakir that once he can demonstrate that he has received treatment and that his condition no longer poses a risk to the Canadian public, CIC will reassess his medical file and his application,” a department spokesperson was quoted by The Star as saying.
Contrary to what Canada Citizenship and Immigration said, Chakir’s wife said that her husband has no health complication that could impose a risk on Canadians’ health.
“He did all the blood work and saliva tests. He didn’t have TB and he doesn’t have TB,” she noted said.
After more than three years struggling to join his wife and son in Canada, Chakir said that he is “extremely depressed.”
“This is a really long process. I just feel down all the time. I have missed a lot of great moments of being with my wife and our son,” he said.
In its attempt to stand against false marriages “marriage of convenience”, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada has hired trained officers that can recognize real immigration applications.
“Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are in a marriage of convenience for immigration reasons may be charged with a crime,” according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada
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