Canada asks Japan to clarify adoption stand, grants visas to stranded families
VANCOUVER — The Canadian government says it is processing visas for families who were near the end of the adoption process in Japan after five of them were stranded for weeks in a bureaucratic impasse.
But Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it has stopped processing cases that were not close to completion and has asked the Japanese government to clarify its position on the adoptions.
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 had been approved after he and his wife arrived in Japan in early May to meet the girl.
Lawyer Alex Stojicevic, who represents the five families who travelled to Japan to pick up their newly adopted babies, said they followed a process that has been in place for at least a decade, which includes getting a letter from the provincial government saying it has no objections.