After three and a half years of frustration, Lakvhir Singh Sekhon and his wife Gurpreet are finally living together in Squamish.
The couple married in 2001 and lived apart for much longer than they ever expected as Lakvhir tried from his home in Canada to get a visa so his new wife could move from India to Squamish.Things didn't go according to plan.
A process that can take as little as just a few days for some people dragged out over months and then years for Lakvhir and Gurpreet.
According to Lakvhir, the problems were all on the Canadian side. He alleges that Immigration Canada kept making empty promises and coming up short with the immigration visa that Gurpreet needed before she could come to live in Canada.
Lakvhir, with help from his family and his friends, tried everything they could think of to move along the process. They appealed to MP John Reynolds and various other members of Parliament for help. Lakvhir turned to an immigration lawyer when he concluded Canada's elected officials weren't doing enough. The legal experts failed to generate an immediate issuance of a visa.
The next step was to contact the media. In June Mehfil, a Canadian magazine targeted to the east Indian community, picked up the story. The Chief also did a article this summer and then another update in the fall.
Lakvhir believes that the media attention pushed Immigration Canada to give the file the attention it deserved and at the end of October the delayed visa was issued.
"It was great," said Lakvhir describing how he felt about a key phone call from the office of John Reynolds. A secretary in Reynolds's office called to tell Lakvhir that the visa was issued and Gurpreet was free to live in Canada.
"That was the greatest day," said Lakvhir's brother Satna.
According to Lakvhir, the visa was sent straight to Gurpreet's small Indian village. Arrangements were made for the bride to fly from India to Vancouver and her nearly-heartbroken husband met her at the airport on Nov. 11.
Remembrance Day for this couple will mean much more than honouring the war dead as Lakvhir was getting ready to give up on the visa process and forget Canada to live with his wife in India. He decided that if the visa wasn't in place by the end of the year he would return to his homeland forever.
Instead Gurpreet is in Squamish and the shy new Canadian resident said she is enjoying Canada.
"It was a bad time in her life," said Lakvhir of the long wait between Gurpreet's wedding and her trip to live with her husband in Squamish. "She is happy to be here now."
Since her arrival, Lakvhir said that there has been many visitors to the house that he shares with Satna and his family.
"All our friends and supporters are happy now," said Lakvhir.
They expect that Mehfil will do a follow-up article in the magazine and the brothers credit the media with making the reunion possible in Squamish.
"It woke them [Immigration Canada] up," said Satna.
The brothers have nothing but praise for Reynolds, the media and the other supporters.
In the meantime, Lakvhir has moved on from his job driving taxi to a bus-driving job with Whistler Transit.
Along with his new job he and his brother want a new house.
"We are trying to find a new house somewhere," said Lakvhir. "We might buy a lot and build up a new house somewhere."
Whatever the case, the brothers intend to keep their families together.
"This is our culture," said Satna.
