If he isn't reunited with his wife,
Dr Raj Natha says he may be forced to leave four rural
Saskatchewan communities without a doctor and to return
to his South African homeland.
Last summer on a trip to South
Africa, Dr Natha, who has been practising in Canada
for a little over a year and a half, surprised his longtime
girlfriend with a marriage proposal. However, when the
newlyweds returned to Canada they were stopped by immigration.
On her visa application, Dr Natha's
wife, Althea Samantha Cook, claimed she had a job in
South Africa — a requirement for immigration to
Canada — when in fact she didn't. Now she's barred
for two years from entering the country.
"Does Immigration expect me to
divorce my wife?" said Dr Natha in an interview with
the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. "I won't do that,
so there's a good chance I'll have to regretfully decline
and go back."
EXCEPTIONAL
APPEAL
Nigel Thomson, the Certified Immigration Consultant
representing Ms Cook, is appealing to Canadian Immigration
to make an exception because of Dr Natha's profession.
Because of the physician shortage, he told the StarPhoenix,
allowing Ms Cook to join her husband is in the nation's
best interests.
Dr Martin Vogel, executive director
of the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA), says
losing another physician would be a serious blow to
the 3,500 patients Dr Natha serves in the communities
surrounding the village of Goodsoil. "We have a hell
of a time sustaining physician services in Saskatchewan's
rural communities already," he says. If Dr Natha leaves
many community members will need to drive over an hour
to reach the nearest doctor.
Despite the shortage, though, Dr
Vogel, himself an immigrant from South Africa, says
the SMA will not get involved. "When it comes to immigration,
there are rules that need to be followed."
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