At 19, Sofiia Holub thought she had found a new start in Montreal, far from the war in Ukraine. But an unexpected return to his sick mother changed everything. His story, told in The Press1provoked a wave of generosity: donations and words of encouragement.
Published at 6:00 a.m.
This solidarity allows him to pay the rent on his Montreal apartment for a few months. But the administrative nightmare persists.
“A lot of people wrote to me,” she says. Some even shared their stories. A man told me about his father who is battling cancer. He gave me emotional support that I really needed. » She adds, moved: “It shows me that I am not alone. »
A life turned upside down
Arriving in Quebec in May 2022 thanks to the Canadian emergency visa program for displaced Ukrainians, Sofiia quickly built a new life for herself: a job at VanLife Montreal, a company manufacturing converted RVs, an apartment in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve , and French lessons to facilitate its integration.
In October, everything changed. A trip to Ukraine to support her ailing mother marked the start of an administrative nightmare.
At the Paris airport, he was refused boarding for Montreal. His emergency visa, which is single-use, does not allow him to return. Now he needs a visitor visa.
Panicked, Sofiia joins a friend in Hungary and applies for a visitor visa. A choice that will prove to have serious consequences: Immigration Canada processing times reach 219 days in this country.
A surge of solidarity
Faced with this situation, readers offered to pay his rent, while others contributed to a GoFundMe. Within a few days, enough money was raised to allow him to pay his rent for the next two or three months.
“It’s a huge relief for her,” says Manon Christophel, her colleague at VanLife Montreal. “It takes a huge weight off his shoulders. »
Unfortunately, the situation remains blocked. Sofiia tried to get help from the office of the MP for her Hochelaga constituency, Soraya Martinez Ferrada. The office claims to be following up with Immigration Canada, but without concrete progress.
“We carry out periodic follow-ups with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) so that she can return to Canada as quickly as possible,” said William Gaudry, constituency director.
A daily newspaper suspended in Annecy
In Annecy, France, with the parents of her colleague Manon, Sofiia waits, as if frozen in time. “I try to help at home, by preparing Ukrainian dishes, for example. Sometimes I read or walk alone, just to avoid going crazy from staying inside. »
Manon, who will spend Christmas with her, tries to cheer her up. “I tell him: “We’re going to spend Christmas together, we’ll be with family.” It makes her smile, but it’s still difficult,” she explains.
She also encourages him to take advantage of this forced break to improve his French. “She already understood it very well, but she didn’t practice it. With my parents, she has no choice,” she says, laughing.
For immigration lawyers consulted by The Pressthe solution would be clear: reapply for a visa from France, where processing times are only… 68 days.
1. Read the article “Canadian emergency visa holder: Exiled against her will”
