Odessa Caputolan, left, stands beside her sister Chissa Schmuhl with a photograph of their sisters in the Philippines. The federal government has returned the immigration application of sibling Frances Bustamante. Photograph by: Larry Wong , Larry Wong/Edmonton Journal

Would-be immigrants caught in limbo of application delays

Filipina who applied six years ago to move to Edmonton faces longer wait

By Candice So June 9, 2012 6:02 PM

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EDMONTON — When Frances Bustamante applied to immigrate to Canada from the Philippines six years ago, she wanted to live in Edmonton to be near her sister and start a better life.

This April, she was devastated to learn the Canadian government might return her application, leaving her in a no man’s land of paperwork, phone calls and unanswered questions.

“I really got frustrated, I was so excited,” Bustamante says. “I’ve lived here all my life and for the past five years, I’ve been waiting.”

In her bid to move to Canada, Bustamante applied under the federal skilled-worker category because she now works as a repair technician for a conductor company in the Philippines. Bustamante hopes to give her nine-month-old daughter, Anya, a new life.

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The Sandwich Nazi from Lewis Bennett on Vimeo.

The Sandwich Nazi
by Lewis Bennett PLUS 6 days 11 hours ago
For every month in 2012, I’m going to make a short film about something going on in the province of British Columbia – a person, a place, or a subject.
The Sandwich Nazi is about Salam Kahil who runs La Charcuterie, a Scandinavian deli in the Port Kells area of Surrey, BC. He is an art collector, a former male escort, an amateur piano player, and a strong supporter of the homeless in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside but his true passion is talking about blowjobs.