Wanted: One employer to help bring a Canadian home.

That’s the public appeal a 52-year-old Point Edward native is issuing in the midst of an immigration quagmire he’s facing in order to return to Canada.

In 2006, Earl Bross renounced his Canadian citizenship in order to secure German citizenship because he was living in the country with his German-born wife and their children.

“It’s not something you do lightly, but at the time, I was in love,” said the IT administrator, who lives in the city of Norderstedt just outside of Hamburg.

“I had two kids with (my wife), and if you think about that – my wife, my kids, my future here – I’d do it for them.”

But now a decade later – with a failed marriage behind him and children all grown up – he’s ready to start a new life in Canada.

There’s only one catch: Bross can’t come back as a Canadian citizen – despite being born on Canadian soil and spending his formative years here – because of his decision to renounce his citizenship.

At the time, Bross admits he didn’t realize the possible ramifications of his decision.

“I thought I could just call (my Canadian citizenship) back up very similar to the German way here,” Bross said on the phone from Germany. “If you’re born in this country and renounce it and you come back, you get (your citizenship) back. You don’t think twice about it.”

Bross and his new wife Stefanie are now working with a Sarnia-based immigration consultant to help them with their complex immigration case.

“It’s a very awkward situation, to be quite frank with you, because the moment you renounce your citizenship… you actually have to go through the entire immigration process again,” said his immigration consultant Bart DeVries.

A Canadian is only eligible to apply to renounce his or her citizenship by meeting several criteria, according to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website.

That criteria includes being at least 18 years old, no longer living in the country, and not having a mental disability that could prevent understanding of the significance of applying for a renouncement.

“If you renounce your Canadian citizenship, you lose all the rights and privileges of being a Canadian citizen and will have no status in Canada,” the ministry warns on its website.

Bross will now have to come to Canada first with a permanent resident visa, but even that process will be complicated for him, DeVries noted.

Potential immigrants can come to Canada through economic immigration programs – like the federal skilled worker program – but they must first be scored on criteria like age, work experience and education in order to join a pool of candidates that qualify for express entry into the country.

But Bross falls short of the score he needs to get into that pool because of his age, DeVries said.

“The program is basically geared towards getting younger international people with skills who still have an opportunity to contribute long-term to the Canadian economy,” he said.

His score, however, could be boosted if Bross had an employer already lined up.

Bross can also choose to apply for permanent residency through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program – an option DeVries has recommended – but Bross will still need to line up an employer.

No matter which routes Bross chooses, DeVries said an employer will be important in his case, and even still, Bross can expect the process to take between one-and-a-half to two years.

For Bross, what’s most frustrating is that proper documentation could have saved him from having to give up his Canadian citizenship in the first place.

His parents were German immigrants, and at the time of his birth, in Canada, Bross said he believes his parents still had German citizenship.

If that was the case – and he could prove it – Bross would have been able to have dual Canadian-German citizenship.

“The problem was at that time the Canadian government didn’t really document things,” he said. “They didn’t document that – for example, my parents gave up their German passports, so I had no way here in Germany to show the German government that my parents were German citizens at the time of my birth and so I couldn’t have dual citizenship, which means I had to give up my Canadian to get my German.”

Bross is hopeful that sharing his story may inspire an employer to come forward and help him immigrate to Canada.

In addition to IT experience, Bross also has industrial mechanic and purchasing management qualifications. He’s also fluent in German.

His wife Stefanie – an office administration clerk – is also eager to start a new life in a new country after meeting Bross’s family and friends during a trip to Canada in 2015.

His mother and a sister still live in the Sarnia area.

“I miss my friends and my family,” Bross said. “It’s a home sickness that’s been gnawing at my bones for years and years and years.”

bsimpson@postmedia.com