17 August 2009

Canadian visa a lifesaver for Jamaican

A Jamaican man will be able to receive lifesaving treatment for a blood-borne cancer thanks to a Canadian visa.

Roger Phillip Ebanks, 60, is battling multiple myeloma that was diagnosed in 2007 while the former seasonal agricultural worker working at the Niagara-on-the- Lake fruit farm. He had been employed by the fruit farm for nearly 27 years.

Urgent and swiftly compliled paperwork allowed Mr Ebanks to get a Canadian visa to stay in Canada past his Canadian work permit  expiry.

If he had been unsuccessful, Mr Ebanks would face certain death back home in Jamaica where health care is both costly and with a lengthy waiting process.

Two years after his diagnosis, Ebanks is still in Canada and every six months he goes through the process of renewing his Canadian visa.

Though Ebanks'condition has stabilized for the most part, he still requires dialysis three times a week, a four and a half hour process that can be both painful and exhausting.

Mr Ebanks' daughter has also been able to obtain a Canadian tourist visa in order to visit her father until October.

 

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The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with Canadian visas and immigration.