Parents stranded in Japan granted Canadian visas for adopted children
VANCOUVER — Five Canadian families have been granted visas to return home with their newly adopted babies, after being stuck in Japan for weeks due to a bureaucratic impasse.
Ryan Hoag of Coquitlam, B.C., says he received a notice from the Canadian embassy in Manila on Friday night confirming that his daughter’s permanent residency has been approved.
Hoag immediately forwarded the message to his wife, Wiyani Prayetno, who has been staying in Japan with their daughter, who was born in April.
“It was kind of like the end of a battle and I was just so overwhelmed with actually seeing the finish line,” he said. “She called me back and her first words were, ‘when can we come home.’”