N.B. family seeking permanent residency set back by COVID-related processing delays

Members of a New Brunswick family are feeling anxiety and nervousness over delays processing their application for permanent residency.

Telma Lorenci, her husband and son have lived in Moncton since she moved from Brazil in 2018.

She and her husband are working and have lived in Canada long enough to apply for permanent residency.

But COVID-19 has made that more difficult.

Lorenci said a process that would normally take three or four months is now taking a yearand the family's wish to put stronger roots in the province have been put on the back burner.

"The permanent resident means that we can buy a house, we can plan our future here in Canada, and we don't need to wait for more and more papers," said Lorenci.

"It's a way to say that we are part of Canada."

Even so,Lorenci saidshe's one of the luckier newcomers because she does have a work visa, so she can continue to provide for her family.

Many fellow newcomers are not as fortunate.

"Some companies are not allowed to hire them or some companies are not allowed to extend their contract," said Lorenci.

"They need to wait for the papers to start working or to continue working."

Brazilian newcomers desperate for immigration process to restart

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A group of Brazilian immigrants in New Brunswick are stuck with no medicare, social insurance or job permits because of government delays approving permanent residency applications.

Lorenci said the feds have extended the deadline for permanent residency applications, but work permits and medicare benefits have not been extended.

There's also the bureaucracy of Ottawa to deal with, and getting a hold of someone for help can be frustrating.

"They have a line that we can call, but it's very complicated to reach them," said Lorenci.

"They say that they are processing, they are updating some status in the website. But we [have not received] any papers yet. So we don't know really what's going on."

Lorenci said other newcomers she's spoken with want to help the government process these applications quicker.

She suggests a greater focus on filing forms digitally or employing airports to perform biometrics.

"Is there something that we immigrants can do to reduce the stress that we are living?"

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino has agreed COVID-19 is affecting the immigration system but said innovations and new technology have allowed the department to make some progress. More services, and even citizenship ceremonies, are being offered online.

Immigration will be part of the federal COVID-19 recovery plan, he said.