A man originally from England who is facing deportation says he’s left with no options but to leave his Manitoba-born toddler behind after a breakup put an end to his application for citizenship.
James Antell says a last-ditch attempt to obtain temporary work and resident permits failed and he’ll be flying back to England next week to avoid being detained.
“My visa was canceled because we’re going through a divorce process and because I’m not a skilled worker, I don’t have a trade or anything, I don’t meet the requirements to extend my work permit,” Antell said of his situation while playing with his son three-year-old son, Oberyn, Thursday.
“I don’t meet the requirements to extend my work permit. So I’m being sent home even though I have a son here.”
“They shouldn’t be breaking apart families like this, in my opinion.”
Antell, 31, married a Manitoba woman in 2017, and has been working in Winnipeg on a spousal open work permit since 2019, the same year their son was born.
But he and his wife separated in 2020, which meant Antell’s application for permanent resident status with his wife as his sponsor, was cancelled.
In a letter dated Jan. 24, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told him he must leave the country immediately.
“It’s very shocking,” he said. “It’s scary as well, because I don’t want to lose my kid, and all he’s going to understand is that he’s got no dad there.”
Antell, who hasn’t been able to afford a lawyer, says he’s looked into his options, and the only thing — applying under humanitarian and compassionate grounds — won’t work because he wouldn’t be allowed to have a job during the process, which can take years.
“It just takes so long and you need the money to be able to survive while you wait for the application result,” Antell said, adding if he leaves Canada to work in England during the process, his humanitarian application would be cancelled.
“So it leaves me with no options.”
‘An application of last resort’
Winnipeg-based immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke says there’s also no guarantee an application through humanitarian grounds would be accepted.
“Immigration lawyers describe a humanitarian application as an application of last resort,” Clarke told 680 CJOB.
“It’s also a high refusal rate for that application. The immigration officer really needs to see a high level of hardship … to show that the applicant has exceptional circumstances to warrant humanitarian relief.”
Unfortunately, Clarke says, situations like the one facing Antell’s family are not uncommon and he recommends hiring a professional to help navigate the immigration system.
“Canada is a difficult country in terms of getting here. Many, many applications are refused. It is not an easy process,” Clarke said.
With a flight booked to England next Wednesday, Antell is spending his last few days in Canada savouring every last moment with his son.
Antell says he and his ex-wife are on good terms, and have been sharing custody of Oberyn, but that’s not going to be possible once he leaves and can only return for six-month stints as a foreign national.
“It’s not going to work long distance … it would be too difficult on him,” said Antell, whose parents and two younger sisters have been living in Manitoba for nearly two decades.
“My life is in Canada and I’m leaving everything behind.”
Antell says his plan now is to go to school once he gets back to England to train for a trade that would allow him to apply to return to Canada permanently.
But that means it will be months or even years before he can hold his son again.
“Essentially, as it stands, I’m losing my kid for a while — I’m going to be a long-distance father on Facetime,” he said.
“I’ll do anything to get to see my son. That’s all I care about right now.“
— with files from Rosanna Hempel