Concerned Friend

**saishuu_kakusei** · 01-09-2007, 10:49 PM

My best friend has been in Canada for four years on several visas trying to become a landed immigrant and eventually a Canadian citizen. Her papers were recently acknowledged again but each time they have been viewed in full, they are sent back for correction or a new law had been added or changed.
She arrived when she was 12 (and turned 13 soon after) and has only a grade 8 formal education. She has attempted homeschooling but with little success as neither she nor her parents have much knowledge in that area of education. Her parents cannot afford to hire a tutor, but they cannot afford for her to not be schooled either. They're not very well off as her mother (also applying for citizenship) cannot work either.
She has suggested on numerous occasions that she return to her native country to complete her schooling but her parents refuse for fear of "messing the situation up when they're so close to being accepted".
The home situation is apparently pretty good in that there's no abuse or major issues, but she's been on anti-depressants for a few years now and things don't seem to be looking up. If she's accepted as a Canadian citizen, she can't leave the country for 2 years after that, and she just "can't take anymore.".

I'm really worried for her, and we've discussed emancipation before, but we're not sure if it's the best way to go, or even if she can do it with her being unable to work. I'm just looking for a solution here, because I really think she should go back to England where she can receive proper schooling and has relatives she can stay with.

Thank you,
Kathryn.

PS. She currently resides in Alberta, Canada, which I see has a decent number of threads related to it.

**aaron** · 01-10-2007, 05:51 AM

So she's a U.K. citizen? I would not expect this level of complication in immigration between commonwealth nations.

**saishuu_kakusei** · 01-10-2007, 12:57 PM

Yes, she's a U.K. citizen.
It's quite hard to believe that things are so complicated, but they originally came to merely visit a friend and then tried to apply for citizenship whilst in Canada which is apparently entirely the wrong way to go about it.
Her mother is married to a Canadian citizen, but the law now states that being married to a Canadian doesn't grant you automatic citizenship.

**aaron** · 01-10-2007, 01:04 PM

Even if she were to emancipate under Canadian laws, it remains possible that the U.K. would decline to recognize the Canadian finding. If she's unable to support herself in either country, she doesn't appear to be a viable candidate for emancipation. Her family should probably consult an immigration lawyer in Canada to try to straighten out her situation.