When their son Michael and his wife legally adopted Chloe, the five-year-old girl they had been fostering in Uganda, Geoff and Liz Bruce knew they wanted to invite the whole family to stay with them at their Ladner, B.C., home for Christmas this year. “She’s never seen snow, so we were hopeful for that—and obviously Christmas trees, and gifts, and Santa Claus,” said Liz about her granddaughter. “We were excited about her coming home.” Michael Bruce’s family lives in Nairobi, Kenya, but he is a Canadian citizen and figured he would have no issue bringing his adopted daughter home to visit his parents in Ladner, along with his American-born wife and their eight-year-old biological son, who was excited to break the news to his sister. “He tells Chloe, we’re going to grandma and grandpa’s for Christmas! So it was a big deal,” said Liz. “The plan was for her to come back and for us to have a couple of weeks there,” said Michael Bruce, in a Zoom interview from Nairobi. “And then we would come back for her new school term in January.” He was shocked when his first application for a travel visa for Chloe was rejected by the Canadian government. “The first answer that they gave us was that Chloe didn’t have sufficient assets to support her stay. Now, I’m not sure exactly what assets a five-year-old is expected to have,” said Michael. “Then they said that they were not convinced that she would return at the end of her stay.” Chloe’s grandmother was flabbergasted. “She’s going home. She has parents, she lives in Nairobi. She has a home there, she goes to school there. This is a vacation,” said Liz Bruce. Chloe’s father applied a second time and was rejected again, in a letter addressed to his daughter. “When the second letter came through, it said that there’s no indication of the connection between yourself and your adoptive parents,” said Chloe’s grandfather Geoff Bruce. “Are you kidding me?” “We were shocked. We were very surprised, and then we were kind of angry, to be honest,” said Liz. “We don’t understand why this is happening.” The desperate grandparents reached out to local politicians for help. “There is nobody we haven’t contacted. I mean, we wrote to the prime minister,” said Liz. But all their son could do is apply for a third time. Three weeks before Christmas, that application for Chloe’s travel visa is still being processed. “We have provided all of the government paperwork to demonstrate we have legally adopted her. It doesn’t at this point make any sense,” said Michael. “Why can’t we just get a visa for her to come and visit?” If Chloe can’t come to Canada, her parents and brother will spend Christmas in Nairobi. For Liz and Geoff, that’s heartbreaking. “We’re quite a little lost this Christmas. We don’t quite know what to do with ourselves. But you know, we’re still hopeful,” said Liz, who has bought a pile of gifts for both of her grandkids. “You never know. Miracles happen.” The grandmother’s message to the federal government? “We just want her to come home for Christmas, that’s all. We’re not asking her to live here yet,” Liz said. “Just please, let her go home for Christmas.”
