Couple crowdfunds for return to P.E.I. during COVID-19 pandemic

Dustin(Dusty)Ford of Summerside, P.E.I., and hisBritish fiance, Emma-Jane Windras,are trying to get to the Island from the U.K. but say they can't afford the new $2,000 fee to quarantine at a hotel awaiting COVID-19 tests results so they are asking for help.

But this couple has gone to greatlengths to be together during the pandemic, no matter what.

Ford, 28,and Windras, 31,were online friends for 10 years but had never met when Windras came to Canada in 2018 and love blossomed.

"It was utterly magical. I have never connected with another person so instantly and completely in my life, and we just knew we had to be together," Windras said. Emma visited a few more times, and they maintainedtheromance.

Ford went to the U.K. on a visitor visa in January2020andWindras was supposed to return with him toCanada before it expired in six months.

Then COVID-19 hit, cancellingtheirflightsand closingthe border to Windras, a non-resident.

'Absolutely stunned'

They weren't going to be separated, and instead gotengaged in May.Ford was not allowed to earn money, so Windras said she struggled to support them.

After Ford's visitor visa ran out in July, he had it extended for a month, thenthey used a honeymoon fund Windras' family had put together toinstead stayin Estoniafor a month, eating instant noodles and potatoes and sometimes sleeping in a tent, so Ford could apply for another visitor visa.

"But it kept us together," Windras said.

Finally in January theysaid they became eligible for a common-law visa, scraped up $400for COVID-19 testsand booked flights back to Canada.

"We thought we had everythingwe needed," Windrassaid. "We were so excited and relieved." But then she was told she could not board, because officials told them theydid not have a household bill or rental receipt in both their names.

"We were absolutely stunned," shesaid. They had a government form stating they shared an address, and written approval from the P.E.I. government, butWindras said they were told it was not enough.

Ford wouldn't leave without her. They returned from London to Windras' parents' home in York, a five-hour drive, to come up with a new plan.

"Every time you think you look and you think you've figured it out, there's something that's been missed, somethingthat's been ill-explained," Ford said.

They lost the $2,000 for their plane tickets, money for trains to and from the airport, as well as $900 they paidto rent an apartment in Charlottetown when they landed,Ford said.

They say they havesince applied for a different visa that helps couples who do not qualify as common law, buthad to hit pause on travel plans when the federal government announcedall international air travellers will be tested upon arrival in Canada, andmustquarantine in a hotel for up to three days awaiting test results, at a cost to the traveller of $2,000 each.

The couple says they can't afford it, and have started an online fundraiser through Go Fund Me for financial help to return home. They are surprised and thrilled with donations and kind comments so far.

And the clock is ticking: Dustin's second visitor visa runs out Feb. 26.

"This last year COVIDand lockdown restrictions have really highlighted for everybody just how hard it is to be kept apart from those you love. For international couples, it is a daily realityas you are completely at the mercy of the rules of government," Windras said.

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