April 30, 2024

Erwin needed the receipt of the recent Open Work Permit application that was submitted seven months ago. I woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning to work on some of my personal tasks that piled up on my to do list. Since Erwin needed the receipt, I had to look for it on our external hard drive supposing I saved it. Seemed like I didn’t because there was nothing on all the possible directories. 

Last Friday, we received a Biometrics Letter from IRCC. Normally, when a Biometrics Letter is received, it is followed by the much-awaited result on the same day, April 26, 2024.

I noticed some additional text. It showed the date followed by the phrase “Final decision. We are reviewing your application.”

In some cases, the result doesn’t happen on the same day. It may happen the next day. Buy hey, It’s Friday! No work for an IRCC officer on Saturday. It may take four more weeks, worst case scenario.

So, as I was on my kids study table, I tapped my fingers on the keys and thought about checking Erwin’s application just to look at the difference of days in his previous Open Work Permit application between his Biometrics Letter and approval date.

For some reason, I opened the recent Open Work Permit application of Erwin.  Then, this flashed in front of me:

“Final decision: April 29, 2024 – Your application is approved.”

Really? So, I called Erwin, still half-believing what I was actually seeing.

I navigated to my kids’ application. Chantry’s Study Permit and Hale’s were also approved! A month ago, Erwin and I already discussed the possibility of our kids taking a vacation back to the Philippines with him in May of this year until the approval of their new Visa. Only God knows when that approval will happen. We called it “vacation” just so as not to hurt our kids’ feelings. They felt excited about taking a vacation in the Philippines but that actually meant Hale won’t be marching with her classmates on her graduation day in June here in Canada. She had been asking me to shop for a graduation outfit online. That also meant goodbye classmates and friends for both of my kids with whom they shared their school years in the past two and a half years.

The funny part of Erwin’s request today is that I can only find the receipt right on his recent Open Work Permit application, right on the IRCC portal. So, God’s primary purpose was for me to actually open the recent application so I can see the result, while sending Erwin the receipt was only secondary. Even God has been speaking through Erwin early in the morning! (This isn’t the first time it happened.) 

The twist of the story has another twist back to approval and positive results. They no longer have to pack their luggages, sell our stuff here, and book a flight to our home country, where I would be left alone to fight for our PR goal in Canada.

Seven months of waiting now versus one month of approval from their first application three years ago. Faith is being tested. Character is being blazed on fire. Like a goldsmith who puts his crude gold ore in a crucible, we’ve been subjected to heat, skimming away the impurities in us. 

Their application is one of those things you hear where results were delayed or went past the written expiry date of the existing Visa. Sad separation between spouses and family members was happening between the Post Graduate Work Permit holders and their dependents due to Visa rejection of the latter. In the process of that excruciating waiting, we felt disregarded, overlooked, and forgotten. In my heart, I knew it would be approved, but the question “when” lingered. So seeing the approval within a few days after the release of the Biometrics Letter was a surprise, and a relief at the same time!

Hannah’s prayer of adoration and praise rang in my heart on 1 Sam 2:1-3; 6-10. All praises and credit belongs to Jesus!

Then, I shared the news to my kids who were preparing for school before I left for work that day. I encouraged them about their faith, and the journey that we go through together as a family.

To where this is leading, only God knows where and how long. May we all remain in Him for He is faithful!