Jamal met another Syrian refugee who arrived after Jamal himself, and already has his Permanent Resident Card. Jamal and Hiba then asked me where is their card? I remember being told by a social worker early in the process that they normally arrive within 12 months so this is not something I had been thinking of or worrying about yet.
I then decided to try and figure it out. After a call to several social workers I realised that when Jamal and Hiba landed in the early hours of the morning on February 16, they were asked for a permanent address where their cards could be sent. They of course didn’t know one. They had a deadline of 180 days to provide one so the cards could be sent to them. That deadline had already passed and now we have to reapply for the permits, and pay the fees.
So I have completed these forms on their behalf. I wish the Canadian immigration had made more of an effort to find them – they could have written to the sponsor (me!), talked to the Child Benefits department and seen if they had an address for them…! But I guess with 25,000 Syrian refugees arriving within a short time that wasn’t possible.
