'Intellectual disability' of 6-yr-old enough reason for Immigration Canada to reject citizenship appeal of parents

Jon and Karissa Warkentin, originally from Colorado, shifted to a small  community of Waterhen in Canada's Manitoba four years ago with a hope of running a business and to settle there.

The community of Waterhen in Canada is a home of just 160 odd people.

Warkentin couple with their four children shifted to the Manitoba community of Waterhen in 2013. Jon and Karissa's daughter Karalynn, was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of two, which was followed by a series of seizures.

She was also kept in the anti-seizure medication after the diagnosis.

More than their daughter's disease, they received a rude shock when their application for the permanent citizenship was rejected by Immigration Canada.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada rejected their application citing Karalynn's "medical inadmissibility" which could be a burden upon the publicly-funded education system in the province.

Education in Canada is mostly publicly funded and looked after by the federal, provincial or local government. Study in Manitoba is compulsory for a student till 18 years of age, unlike several other parts of the country where the age bar is 16.

Karalynn's mother Karissa told Global News how she was shaken by the whole development. "I was shocked. Honestly, I had fallen sick. I was going between nausea and disbelief."

Denying the family's application for the permanent citizenship, the Immigration Canada cited the report of a school psychologist and said Karalynn was diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

However, Warkentin family denied such a report and said the school psychologist only predicted that the child may have ADHD.

ADHD is a mental disorder which has characteristics like problems in paying attention, hyperactivity or difficulty in controlling inappropriate behaviours as per the age.

Apart from the thought of their daughter, Warkentin couple are further worried about the family's future as they had already invested huge sum of money in their business.

I was thinking where we would live, what we are going to do, where we will move to at that moment" Karissa said, explaining her state of mind after receiving the rejection.

The business started by the couple caters to deer and duck hunters while the anglers look to catch walleye and pike.

Speaking about their uncertain future, Karalynn's father Jon told Global News: "It had always been our dream to someday have a business of our own....We wanted a community too, a place for our kids to go to school, so that they could have friends … And this place almost checked off all of the boxes."

Though the Global News asked the federal government for an explanation with regards to the whole incident, they failed to get one as   Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen is presently out of the country.

(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)

Image: Facebook profile of Karissa Warkentin.