Regina private high school housed international students with visa concerns for the summer

Kevin Yang debated going home to his family in French Guiana as the novel coronavirus was spreading in Regina, where he lives and studies at Luther College High School.

“I didn’t want to risk to contaminate my family,” said the 17-year-old, who ultimately decided against international travel during a global pandemic.

Yang is one of 20 international students spending the summer in Luther College’s single-room dorms on the University of Regina campus.

While international students’ concerns about their safety and the safety of their families played into the unconventional setup, Luther College High School’s vice principal of student life, Shawn Stieb, said there was also a fear that they may not be able to return when classes resumed.

In March, when Saskatchewan schools shut down under a pandemic public health order, Luther College High School’s classes went remote. Of the 60 students living in Luther’s high school campus dorms at the time, 35 stayed behind until June.  At that point, 15 went home.

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The other 20 paid a fee — which, in some cases, was less than the cost of a flight to their home country — to be put up on the university campus over the summer, Stieb said.

As they now prepare to move back into the high school dorms, Stieb said 14 are setting up to study remotely from abroad because they are encountering issues with their visas.

“It has been difficult for some of our students,” Stieb said. “Passport (offices) in some of the countries they live are not open yet and not processing those.”

To expedite things as services come back online, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada pointed to a new temporary two-stage process.

The government department said in an email statement that it is assessing acceptance and funding on applications missing documentation, noting that it will revisit applications as paperwork is produced.

Yang said he’s glad he decided to stay behind.

Being from a francophone country, he is an English-as-a-second-language (ESL) student. Being able to talk with his teachers in-person and ask them questions as he is learning has been crucial to his success, he said.

“For me, it’s very important coming back to school,” Yang said.

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