Manitoba mother heartbroken 'inordinate delays' mean 3rd Christmas without adopted son, 7, still in Nigeria
CBC
An empty bedroom set aside in Charlene Berkvens's home for her son is a painful reminder that they will spend the holidays an ocean apart for the third Christmas in a row, with no sign of when they'll be reunited.
Two years ago this month, Berkvens, who lives just north of Winnipeg, legally adopted her now seven-year-old son in Lagos, Nigeria.
She has been waiting in limbo for his arrival since, with few details from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on when it will complete its part of the process, what's taking so long or when she may be able to bring him home.
"It's exhausting and it's heartbreaking," said Berkvens.
"It's crazy to think about all the things we've missed together: birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, just spending time together."
Before the adoption, Berkvens went through three years of home visits from social workers, parental training programs, police record checks, reviews and approval from the Manitoba government, all while working with adoption agencies.
The Nigerian government legally certified the adoption in December 2021 during a months-long visit she made to Lagos.
IRCC completes the final step in such adoptions — including issuing a passport to the adopted child — but that hasn't happened.
Berkvens has reached out to IRCC and its office in Accra, Ghana — which is involved in the immigration process — about the delay on numerous occasions, but has received no firm answers.
She's written to Canada's federal immigration minister and asked her member of Parliament, James Bezan, to help.
After his office inquired, IRCC confirmed earlier this year the second and final part of the immigration and citizenship application had been received, and said it is "in the queue for review by an [immigration] officer."
"The long delays in processing immigration files, particularly dealing with adoptions, is unacceptable," said Bezan, who represents the Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman riding.
"The problem seems to have gotten worse."
It's a familiar problem for Alberta-based Canadian immigration lawyer Alicia Backman-Beharry.
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