{"id":149648,"date":"2023-04-18T09:55:29","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T13:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=149648"},"modified":"2023-04-21T10:06:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T14:06:52","slug":"joeys-chef-in-legal-limbo-thanks-to-federal-immigration-backlogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/joeys-chef-in-legal-limbo-thanks-to-federal-immigration-backlogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey\u2019s chef in legal limbo thanks to federal immigration backlogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

When fire destroyed the Joey\u2019s Pizza and Pasta building on York Street in Sackville on April 7, about a dozen people lost their jobs. And for Andres Mendieta, the Joey\u2019s chef and kitchen manager for the past 4 years, the job he lost is irreplaceable, at least until the Canadian government says it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Originally from Ecuador, Mendieta has been working in Canada on what\u2019s known as a \u201cclosed visa\u201d, meaning he\u2019s legally allowed to work for just the company who made the arrangements for him to come. \u201cI\u2019m only allowed to work for one person,\u201d explains Mendieta, and that\u2019s Joey\u2019s Pizza. \u201cAnd until [April 7th], it was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendieta is now in a sort of legal limbo, caught waiting on approval of his permanent residency application, or another temporary work visa that could free him up to work elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Mendieta is also unsure if he will qualify for EI, because although he\u2019s been paying into it, he can\u2019t legally look for another job, typically a requirement of filing an EI claim.<\/p>\n

In order for Mendieta to get his first Canadian work visa back in May 2019, Joey\u2019s owner Leeya Hicks had to first send in a Labour Market Impact Assessment to show that there was a need for a foreign worker to fill the job. Mendieta says since then he\u2019s developed a deep trust with Hicks, and has done well at Joey\u2019s, starting as a cook and eventually being promoted to kitchen manager. After a year in Sackville, he applied to bring his wife Paola Gonzales to the town, and then about 18 months ago, they both applied to become permanent residents.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the applications for Mendieta and Gonzales are two of more than 622,000 applications for permanent residency in the queue at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). More than half of those are considered behind the expected service standard, which varies from 60 days to 11 months. Mendieta and Gonzalez have been waiting 18 months.<\/p>\n

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Screen cap from IRCC website<\/a>, April 19, 2023.<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Permanent resident status would solve Mendieta\u2019s current conundrum, as would getting approval for a Bridging Open Work Permit, meant to bridge the gap for workers whose original permits might expire before they get PR status. But Mendieta\u2019s application for a Bridging permit is also stuck in the queue at IRCC.<\/p>\n

Last week, Mendieta reached out to MP Dominic LeBlanc\u2019s Shediac constituency office, as well as MLA Megan Mitton\u2019s office in Sackville, for help. Mendieta says Leblanc\u2019s office emailed him to say they have requested information on the status of his application.<\/p>\n

Mitton says she has reached out to New Brunswick Immigration Minister Arlene Dunn as well as MP Dominic Leblanc, \u201cto get information and help with the next steps,\u201d on Mendieta\u2019s situation. She also said in an emailed statement: \u201cMy office has been working to ensure there is access to other provincial government services [Mendieta] needs as well. I will continue to work with both levels of government to resolve this as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

MP Dominic LeBlanc\u2019s office is aware of Mendieta\u2019s case, but were not able to respond before publication time.<\/p>\n

IRCC spokesperson Jeffrey MacDonald responded to CHMA via email to say the department is \u201cworking to reduce application backlogs and build a stronger immigration system.\u201d MacDonald said IRCC is \u201cdigitizing applications, hiring and training new staff, and harnessing automation technologies,\u201d in order to increase its capacity and efficiency.<\/p>\n

Mendieta and his wife are eager to get their new PR status. He has hopes of possibly opening his own restaurant one day, serving Ecuadoran or South American cuisine. \u201cThere are a couple of ideas I have of my own,\u201d says Mendieta. \u201cIf I could, I would definitely try to open my own place.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the plan was to one day move on from Joey\u2019s, with his boss Hicks and co-workers wishing him well, says Mendieta, not to wake up one day to discover his beloved kitchen burning to the ground.<\/p>\n

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Joey\u2019s Pizza and Pasta, the day after the fire. Photo: JJ Stiles<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Even without his immigration woes, Mendieta says losing Joey\u2019s is a huge loss for him, as it is for so many others. He loved his co-workers, he trusted his boss. And he had worked up to kitchen manager after starting as a cook four years ago. He wasn\u2019t ready for it all to come to a sudden end on Good Friday.<\/p>\n

As it stands, Mendieta and Gonzalez have no idea when their permanent residency status might come through, whether it be a few more days, weeks or months. While Gonzales is working full time for the Salvation Army Thrift Store, it\u2019s not enough income to cover their life in Sackville and also support for Mendieta\u2019s kids from a previous marriage, who live back in Ecuador.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was for me, it\u2019s okay,\u201d says Mendieta, \u201cbut then my kids, it\u2019s something different. It\u2019s something that you are like, Okay, this is not how I planned it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now Mendieta is focussing on communicating with IRCC, to try to get himself in a legal position to work again. \u201cIt\u2019s been a year and six months,\u201d says Mendieta, \u201cand that\u2019s worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When fire destroyed the Joey\u2019s Pizza and Pasta building on York Street in Sackville on April 7, about a dozen people lost their jobs. And for Andres Mendieta, the Joey\u2019s chef and kitchen manager for the past 4 years, the job he lost is irreplaceable, at least until the Canadian government says it\u2019s not. Originally…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":149651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[217,57,3265],"tags":[25341,9060,4844,3292,25342,4273],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149656,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149648\/revisions\/149656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149648"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=149648"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=149648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}