A New Zealand citizen stranded in Canada without a visa says he feels “lost” and is considering moving to the UK or South America if he cannot return home soon.
Nash Forrester has been trying to get home for five months but has been unable to secure a place in managed segregation (MIQ), either through room releases or “lotteries.”
He also requested an emergency allowance on the grounds that his Canadian work permit expired on October 16 and that he will become an “illegal immigrant”.
On Tuesday, the government rejected his request because it was not convinced he was “legally unable to stay” in Canada and had “no choice but to return to New Zealand”. Forrester believed the decision was made because he might be able to get a three-month tourist visa to Canada, but said it would not help his situation as he would be unable to work and could not afford to live off his savings.
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Nash Forrester / Supplied
Nash Forrester, 21, is stuck in Canada. His visa has expired but he cannot return home because he was unable to secure a place at MIQ.
Forrester said the process, which he described as broken, had made him “absolutely furious.”
“I am in disbelief as to the way I was treated while in Canada and could not travel to the country where I was born. “
The former Christchurch resident moved to Banff, AB in November 2019 to work as a chef.
Nash Forrester / Supplied
Nash Forrester says he’s in disbelief in the way he’s being treated.
When Covid-19 first struck in early 2020, he didn’t have enough money set aside to return to Aotearoa, so he decided to stay in Canada for as long as he could.
Forrester said he was fully vaccinated and had previously had Covid-19.
As his deadline to leave the country approached, he had started filing complaints online with the MIQ team.
He was shocked to receive a response from an official a few days ago saying that if he made any further complaints he would not receive a response.
The 21-year-old is now looking for other ways to get home, which could include a flight to the UK or South America to “ride a bike there” until he can. get a MIQ place.
“I just feel lost in the world right now. I feel like there is nowhere to go.
In a statement, MIQ co-director Megan Main said MIQ refused Forrester’s request because he was not convinced he could not stay in Canada, based on the evidence that ‘he had provided.
MIQ had received several complaints from Forrester, she confirmed, including the first he made last Thursday.
Staff responded the same day to inform Forrester that they were receiving “extremely high volumes” of applications, which was affecting response times. They told her that her request was being assessed and apologized for any distress caused by the wait.
After filing a third complaint about the delay, MIQ told Forrester that since the processing times were beyond the control of the complaints resolution team and they had already responded to their complaint, staff would file “Other communications of this nature without acknowledgment or response. ”.
Forrester had filed a fourth complaint about his rejected application and staff would respond to him within five days, Main said.
Requests for emergency places in managed isolation cases were assessed on a case-by-case basis against “defined criteria”.
Approval of an application depended on the number of applicants and places available at any one time, and people who could not legally stay in their current location were not guaranteed an exemption.
“These decisions are not easy to make and we are sensitive to the difficult situations in which people applying for emergency allowance find themselves. However, we must balance each individual emergency request with our critical work to ensure the safety of all New Zealanders and the limited available capacity in the managed isolation facilities.
Main acknowledged that missing MIQ spots was “difficult and frustrating”.
However, several thousand rooms would be vacated by the end of January and MIQ was closely monitoring its capacity in the wake of the community outbreak, she said. The date of the next theatrical release was to be confirmed.
“Coffeeaholic. Lifelong alcohol fanatic. Typical travel expert. Prone to fits of apathy. Internet trailblazer.”