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Iranian living in Halifax waits 1 year — and counting — for permanent residency

Iranian living in Halifax waits 1 year — and counting — for permanent residency

An Iranian computer scientist who moved to Halifax for a post-doctoral fellowship at Dalhousie University says delays in his permanent residency application are hurting his job prospects and causing stress for his family.

Enayat Rajabi started his two-year fellowship at Dalhousie in 2015 after working in Iran and Spain. Rajabi said he's tried unsuccessfully to get a job at another university, and believes he's been overlooked because he only has a work permit.

Rajabi applied for permanent residency through Nova Scotia's express entry program one year ago — on May 18, 2017. He's one of hundreds of Iranians across the country speaking out about delays with their applications and demanding answers from the federal government.

Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says the majority of similar applications get processed within six months.

"This delay is not reasonable for me," Rajabi said. "I'm sure that I'm losing my chance to get a job offer for an academic positions."

He said he knows many Iranians who are also waiting, and believes the government is discriminating against them.

Provided necessary documents

Rajabi lives in Halifax with his wife and two young daughters. Right now, he's working as a web developer for a private company as he tries to get back into academic work.

He said he's provided all the necessary documents, and then some, to IRCC.

"For a person who applied for work permit several times, and provided all the information and documents, I have been in Canada since 2015 and we did not leave the country since 2015, what other documents do you need to be approved?" he said.​

Lee Cohen, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Halifax, said having a work permit doesn't necessarily mean the application process will be quicker.

In fact, it can be the opposite, he said.

Because Rajabi is able to work and support his family, the irony might be that his application "lacks the priority that a more urgent situation may demand," said Cohen.

Cohen works with several Iranian clients and doesn't think applicants from that country are being singled out, although he said there's a backlog at processing offices due to the high demand.

Rather, he said long wait times are a problem for applicants from all countries.

Stuck in security screening

While wait times have gotten better in recent years, Cohen said they're still far too long.

"People are being held hostage in their own lives because their applications are stalled or stuck and the process takes longer than it should," Cohen said.

Most applications get caught up in the security screening process, he said, and authorities provide few answers why.

In an email, IRCC said it cannot comment on specific cases, but 80 per cent of residency applications take six months to process, meaning the remaining 20 per cent can take longer.

"We understand the frustration of those affected and have engaged with the community to better understand their concerns," the statement read. "Our top priority is protecting the safety, security and health of Canadians. For this reason, every immigration applicant is reviewed from a security and criminality perspective."

Applied for several academic jobs

Rajabi said he's applied to several professor positions, including at Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University and at universities outside of Halifax.

"I am doing well in Canada. I'm just helping the company and I would like to contribute more in different places," he said.

In an email, a spokesperson for Dalhousie University said applicants need appropriate authorization from IRCC, but that the university hires many people with work permits.

Still, Cohen said being a permanent resident can help land a job.

"There are some employers that do want to see that the person that they're going to hire is more likely to be a long-term hire than a short-term, and that's better secured by knowing that the potential hiree is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident," he said.

Can't visit sick parents

Cohen called the immigration system very "disrespectful."

"It does not respect people's time … it does not generally respect people's finances," he said.

What makes matters worse for Rajabi and his family is that they want to travel back to Iran to visit their sick parents.

Without permanent residency, Rajabi said it's difficult to do and requires some of the family, who have visitor permits, to apply for visas outside of Canada.

"My daughter told me, 'Why can't I see my aunts?' So this is very painful that I can't have proper answer to my daughter," he said. "I don't have any answers for her."