From left: Mehran Farrokhrouz, his wife Foroozan Moslemi and their son Aryana Farrokhrouz moved from Tehran, Iran to Nova Scotia in April 2019. The family is planning to return to Iran if their immigration file does not move forward. Contributed Photo by Contributed /Contributed

By Noushin Ziafati, PNI Atlantic

The ChronicleHerald

An Iranian family who came to Nova Scotia to start a new life say theyre planning to pack up and return to their home country since the province has not approved them in the final assessment of their immigration file, despite their thousands of dollars’ worth of investments and contributions here.

Mehran Farrokhrouz, his wife Foroozan Moslemi and their son Aryana Farrokhrouz moved from Tehran, Iran to Nova Scotia in April 2019. The parents came to the province through the entrepreneur immigration stream, while their son, who is over 18 years old, came with a visitor visa.

Last year, the family started up two businesses in Truro: Saffron Restaurant and Aryana Building and Renovation.

According to Mehran Farrokhrouz, they have invested more than $100,000 in their businesses in Nova Scotia and about $65,000 abroad for marketing, website design and finding some companies in Europe to be representatives to sell (our) products.

Immigrants that come to the province through the entrepreneur stream must make a minimum capital investment of $150,000 in the province and have a minimum $600,000 in net business and personal assets, among other criteria, in order to be nominated by the provincial government for permanent residency under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program.

Farrokhrouz said he believes he and his wife have fulfilled all their commitments as entrepreneurs.

However, since they only invested roughly $100,000 directly in the province and cant afford to pay about $17,000 for a financial audit report because they are financially struggling as a result of COVID-19 and cant transfer money from Iran to Canada due to sanctions, he said the Office of Immigration told them they dont qualify to get nominated for permanent residency status.

I have written so many letters to the immigration office and explained everything that I have faced these days, all difficulties . . . but they refused and they said you can stay here without any changes in your residency and spend more money here, and after maybe one year you can again send a request for final assessment, he said.

Farrokhrouz said the province should make an exception, seeing how his family has spent more than $165,000 for their businesses in total, put down roots in Nova Scotia and cant afford to fork over more money at the moment since they have a lack of income” due to the economic impacts of COVID-19.

He said his family has hired people in the province, brought new technology through their epoxy business, Aryana Building and Renovation, and a unique restaurant to Truro that are valuable entrepreneurial accomplishments that are being overlooked.

Theyre not thinking about entrepreneurs, theyre looking for money. And these days, because of COVID-19, its not possible to bring more and spend money here, and this is my big problem, said Farrokhrouz.

This is a good opportunity for Truro to have knowledgeable and experienced people here to help the development of this area, but theyre just following the regulations line by line and word by word. . . . This is not good.

The Chronicle Herald requested an interview with Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab. Instead, Government of Nova Scotia spokesperson Tracy Barron said in an email statement that the government works with each applicant on a case by case basis.

We encourage anyone who may be experiencing issues such as you describe to work with Nova Scotia immigration officials to find a resolution. Permanent resident status is a federal process. We cannot speak to specific cases, she added.

Farrokhrouz said had he known better, he wouldve applied to immigrate to Canada through the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program instead of through the entrepreneur stream because achieving permanent resident status would have likely been simpler, whereas he has to work a lot, to spend a lot, high-quality university certifications and job experience, and so far Im not eligible.

He said the provincial government should bring forth an emergency COVID-19 committee to evaluate immigration files to make final decisions during these unprecedented times, seeing how most businesses are not operating as they normally would be.

For now, Farrokhrouz and his family plan to wait it out a few more weeks to see if their immigration file will move forward. If not, he said they are ready to close all of our businesses here, sell our equipment, fire our staff and go back home.

We came from Iran to find better conditions for our family, but inside Canada, they force us to go out, unfortunately, he said.

I think we have done everything and theres nothing more. I believe that they can accept us.