Three Ukrainian kids, adopted by an Edmonton girl, are coming house after being stranded in Mexico for months.
“Everyone seems to be completely happy to listen to completely happy information,” stated Olga Ostapiv, who’s a Canadian citizen and the authorized guardian of three kids from Ukraine named Anastasia, Yulia and Maksim.
The kids have a particular sort of visa known as CUAET (Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Journey), which grants them one-time entry into Canada. It’s not thought of a refugee program.
Ostapiv stated she wished to assist them neglect concerning the warfare and determined to take them on a trip she had booked earlier than Russia invaded Ukraine a yr in the past.
She says that as a result of her English is just not good, she requested immigration officers if the youngsters might journey with these paperwork and was instructed sure.
Nonetheless, when it got here time to return to the airport in Mexico and return house to Edmonton, she realized that the youngsters couldn’t fly again to Canada.
The youngsters have been in Mexico for 2 months now, resort hopping on a weekly foundation and unable to return to Edmonton.
Learn extra:
3 Ukrainian kids caught in Mexico cannot come again to Edmonton
Learn subsequent:
A part of the Solar breaks free and kinds an odd vortex, which confuses scientists
Ostapiv accepts accountability and admits it’s her fault for not understanding the boundaries of the visa.
“I am simply merely asking, please assist me repair this,” she stated Thursday, including the youngsters suffered due to her misunderstanding. “I took accountability for these kids. They belief me. They love staying right here.”
Olga Ostapiv’s three adopted kids Anastasia, Yulia and Maksim, photographed along with her sister.
Supplied by: Olga Ostapiv
Ostapiv has been working for 2 months to resolve the visa concern.
At one level, it appeared like the one alternative was to ship the youngsters again to Ukraine – a heartbreaking choice as they went to highschool in Edmonton, made new buddies and joined actions equivalent to dance and taekwondo.
The youngsters have been trying ahead to re-attending the summer time occasions they embraced once they first arrived in Edmonton, such because the Heritage Pageant.
“The worst-case situation is to ship them again house,” she stated, explaining that they might be housebound in a area with no energy or private college. “They’ve misplaced contact with their buddies and schoolmates in Ukraine. And their first query was, how can we return now?”
Learn extra:
Manitoba-bound Ukrainian households disillusioned as kids’s visas delayed
Learn subsequent:
Unique: Widow’s 911 name earlier than James Smith Cree Nation killings reveals previous violence
On Thursday, Ostapiv instructed World Information that the youngsters got visas and passports to come back again to Canada.
Ostapiv stated she was prepared to leap on a aircraft to Puerto Vallarta straight away, however was suggested by the federal government staff she communicated with to attend whereas the paperwork was processed.
She is now working to get the paperwork into the youngsters’s arms and believes it might take every week to get them sorted.
Olga Ostapiv’s three adopted kids Anastasia, Yulia and Maksim.
Supplied by: Olga Ostapiv
Ostapiv stated her household lives a quiet, easy life and speaking to the media concerning the confusion has been aggravating — however after two months of making an attempt to take care of the problem on their very own and getting nowhere, it is paying off introduced.
“I did not count on it to be this quick,” she stated of the youngsters who obtained their documentation two days after she spoke. “I believed, sure, possibly quicker – possibly every week – however right this moment it truly is like magic.”
She may be very grateful to all of the individuals who helped to get the youngsters house.
“Because of everybody. It includes lots of people and helped me to resolve my mistake.”
Learn extra:
Sask. rural municipalities are pushing for Ukrainians’ work permits to be expedited
Learn subsequent:
Google AI chatbot Bard provides flawed reply, sending shares down
© 2023 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
