After years living as refugees — hiding their Christian faith, unable to legally work and confined to a small Turkish town — Leyla Shahsavar says their uncle and his family were given hope they could build a new life in Winnipeg.
That was after the Canadian government approved a non-for-profit’s request in 2024 to sponsor their resettlement to Manitoba.
They started dreaming again … what kind of high school were they going to find for the kids to go to? That was a very happy moment, Shahsavar told CBC News.
But the family of four has not arrived in Canada yet. Their immigration process has now been stuck for almost two years. Shahsavar said the family faces the possibility of being deported to Iran, their home country, where they fled religious persecution.
This delay is putting their life in danger, Shahsavar said.
Shahsavar’s uncle was arrested in Iran in 2014 after he and his family converted to Christianity from Islam. He was released from prison, and shortly after, his wife and two daughters left with him to Turkey, where they were given refugee status.
The family applied to come to Canada through a program allowing registered organizations to privately sponsor a set number of refugees annually (new window).
Shahsavar says the family faces the risk of imprisonment or even death if sent back to Iran. (Justin Fraser/CBC)
Photo: (Justin Fraser/CBC)
Hospitality House Refugee Ministry, a Winnipeg non-for-profit organization, took their case after another application with the group fell through and space became available.
This is a family in trouble, Elodie Furaha, the Hospitality House resettlement co-ordinator working with the family, told CBC News. You see how long they have been waiting with no hope.
Their application was submitted, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada approved the sponsorship in July 2024, Furaha said. The federal government sent their case to their Ankara office for the completion of a medical checkup, collection of biometrics and an interview needed to grant them official status in Canada.
The family has not heard back from the federal department in the 20 months since the file was sent, Furaha said.
They saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but where is the light for them right now? she said.
Shahsavar said the family’s residence permit associated with their refugee status in Turkey was set to expire earlier in March. Their uncle went to renew it but was told the government was not going to extend it, and he was arrested, Shahsavar said.
Without the permit, the family is at risk of being deported to Iran, where they can face imprisonment or even death.
I don’t want them to go back. It can’t happen. They [would] just get executed, Shahsavar said.
Longer wait times
Furaha said processing times for the next steps after the sponsorship application is approved depends on the immigration office assigned to the case.
Hospitality House usually waits three years for a refugee to fulfil all needed steps abroad and land in Canada. While Shahsavar’s family is still within that time frame, Furaha said it is very rare that an application has not moved forward in nearly two years.
At this point, at least the fingerprints had been taken … or, if they were in the queue for an interview, usually they will update us, she said.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told the CBC they can’t comment on specific cases. A spokesperson for the department said the number of applications, the need to verify information and a case’s complexity are among the reasons why processing times can vary.
Some parts of the process, such as security screenings, are done by independent partners, and the department has no control over their timings. The federal department said it aims to process 80 per cent of completed applications within established standards.
Winnipeg immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke told CBC News refugees outside of Canada often have to wait longer for a final decision.
Even with the private sponsorship approved, the next steps in the process are equally important to determine whether a candidate is accepted into Canada, he said.
Applications are ordered based on urgency.
These privately sponsored refugee applications are often given low priority, Clarke said.
He said families like Shahsavar’s who are facing risk of deportation need to inform the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office handling the file about the dangers they face.
Hopefully, the officer will react, Clarke said of the Ankara office.
Shahsavar said trying to talk with the department office in the past hasn’t been easy, mostly ending with emails or voicemails that do not include specific information in the replies.
It’s like they are in a limbo, Shahsavar said of the family. Time is going on, people are moving forward — they are just stuck.
Family banking on hope
At the time Hospitality House was approved to sponsor the family, Shahsavar said a government website (new window) indicated the rest of the process would take around 17 months.
Hospitality House said that if the government had processed their application faster, the family wouldn’t be at the risk of deportation, potentially putting their lives at risk.
It’s bad to the point that you don’t have a word for it, Furaha, the resettlement co-ordinator, said.
Shahsavar said the waiting is frustrating, and that is weighing on the family. Their uncle was sent to a refugee camp after he was arrested, while their aunt and cousins are hiding in their home without the chance of going back to school — scared they might get apprehended by police.
They are just waiting for hope to come from Canada. Just a call from the embassy saying, ‘Here is your appointment,’ Shahsavar said.
I would like them just to speed up the application. Every day I’m sleeping, I’m like, ‘Tomorrow morning, what will happen? Will I wake up with the message that they are gone, or they won’t have time to send that message?’
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Refugee family faces deportation risk while waiting to come to Winnipeg
Leyla Shahsavar says a Manitoba non-profit received approval in 2024 to sponsor their uncle and his family’s relocation to Canada as refugees. But the immigration process has stalled for almost two years, and the family now faces the risk of being sent back to Iran while they continue waiting.
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