A Russian man who has fought to settle in Nova Scotia for the past four years is refusing to get the medical exams necessary to finalize permanent residency for himself, his wife and two sons.
In an open letter, Vitaly Bondarenko expressed frustration about the system and the Immigration Department’s requirement for another medical exam when the family has already had them done twice.
“The point is not only the money (every medical examination costs about $800), but it’s time. It’s about four months of waiting. Actually, we don’t have any health, nerves or strength left,” Bondarenko said in the letter.
“We don’t believe in our future in Canada any-more.”
Bondarenko’s Halifax lawyer Lee Cohen says the family recently cleared the last big hurdle and got a green light from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“The glitch is that because it has taken this long to process their application at this moment in time, the medicals that the Bondarenkos did previously have since expired, so like anybody else who applies to Canada, they have to have current medicals,” Cohen said.
“We’re at that moment in time now where everybody that I’ve ever worked for wants to be.”
