Key Events in Juana Tejada's immigration struggle
August 2006 The CIC found Juana eligible for permanent residence. They also granted her an open work permit.
Late February - March 2007 Medical tests revealed that Juana had stage IV colon cancer. The OHIP temporarily reinstated her coverage to August 2007, the date her new work permit expires. OHIP has not renewed her coverage beyond August 2007.
October 22, 2007 CIC told Juana that her application for permanent residence was refused because she was medically inadmissible. She sent a letter on December 11, 2007, and requested that CIC make an exemption on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
February 8, 2008 CIC refused her application, noting that she never replied to their October 2007 letter. Juana sent another letter to CIC on February 21, 2008, insisting that she sent a letter in December 2007. CIC acknowledged receipt of that letter later, on March 12, 2008. As a matter of fairness, CIC re-opened her case and advised her that they would forward the letter to a medical officer in Ottawa, and receiving a reply from Ottawa would “be able to make a decision on [her] request for humanitarian and compassionate consideration."
April 1, 2008 CIC again refused Juana’s application, because she was medically inadmissible. In response to her request for humanitarian consideration, the officer wrote: “[w]hile I am sympathetic to your situation, I am not satisfied that these circumstances justify granting an exemption".
May 16, 2008 CIC acknowledged another procedural error on their part, and again re-opened her case.
June 2, 2008 CIC advised Juana that her file was transferred to a local office (CIC Etobicoke) for further assessment. On June 11, 2008, Juana and her husband were invited to CIC Etobicoke, where a new officer assigned to her case granted them Temporary Resident Permits and open work permits, valid to December 10, 2008.
June 20, 2008 At around 3 p.m., CIC advised Juana that they would be issuing her Interim Federal Health (IFH) coverage, valid to December 10, 2008.
July 17, 2008 The CIC finally granted Tejada's wish for permanent residency in Canada.
- From Atty Rafael Fabregas MANILA, Philippines - While her fight with stage-IV cancer is not over, Filipina caregiver Juana Tejada can breathe a sigh of relief after immigration authorities permitted her to live in Canada for the remaining years of her life. Tejada, 38, who doctors said had less than five years to live, was granted permission on July 17 by the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to become a permanent resident after months of appealing on humanitarian grounds. “Juana can now spend the rest of her life in peace," Tejada’s immigration lawyer, Rafael Fabregas said in a statement sent to GMANews.TV. In a press conference last Friday, July 18, Fabregas commended the Canadian government’s compassion toward Tejada, a Live-in Caregiver Program worker who was diagnosed with terminal stage colon cancer on March 2007. Fabregas said he and his cliente were thankful for the help and consideration of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister Diane Finley, her Senior Advisers and the Senior Officers of the immigration department, and the officer at CIC’s local office in Etobicoke. “We thank all those who have expressed and shown their support for Juana Tejada, including Trinity-Spadina MP Olivia Chow, the United Steelworkers of America, Connie Sorio of Kairos, to Migrante Ontario, to CASJ, to Oswald and Mila Magno who started the online petition, and to other individuals, the Donnas, the Ajits, the Kevins, and to the countless others to whom we express our sincere gratitude for coming to Juana’s side without hesitation," Fabregas added. Tejada was lured to work in Canada in 2003 under the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP), which grants foreign workers permanent residency— and an opportunity to petition their entire family — upon fulfillment of their three-year assignment as well as necessary medical and criminal clearances. But when doctors discovered her illness during a routine medical check-up in 2006, Juana learned the bad news: she only had a five percent chance of surviving cancer after five years. Determined to give her family a better life, Juana appealed to waive the good-health requirement for humanitarian reasons. Her petition was denied twice. Despite their victory, Fabregas called on the Canadian government to amend the existing immigration policies to prevent other foreign caregivers from Tajada’s struggle. “Among other things, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act must be amended immediately to grant live-in caregivers an exemption from the ‘good health’ requirement when they apply for permanent residence, as they had already arrived healthy enough to work for us. In recognition of their contributions and sacrifices, they deserve a more certain future," he said. Juana, who had hoped to work as a teacher, is the fifth of nine children. Her father is a farmer, her mother is a housewife. She eventually left the Philippines to work in Hong Kong as a domestic helper in 1995. After seven or eight years in Hong Kong, she applied for a visa to Canada in 2002, to work under the LCP. Her application was granted. She arrived in Canada on March 15, 2003.
- Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV 
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