Beatriz Adriana Mora Manriquez is happy Ottawa is reviewing its policy that bans people with disabilities and excessive health needs from immigrating to Canada.

The Mexican migrant says time is running out for her husband, Sergio Soberano Osorio, however. Soberano is suffering from renal failure and needs to get on the kidney transplant wait list as soon as possible.

The Toronto couple has applied for permanent resident status on humanitarian and compassionate grounds and has been waiting almost four years for a decision. Without permanent residency, Soberano is not eligible to get on the transplant list — even though his wife’s sister is willing to donate one of her kidneys if she’s a match.

The irony is that the processing of their case has been delayed because officials are waiting for the changes to the policy to be finalized, according to an email to the couple’s lawyer from the office of their MP — who happens to be Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen.

Hussen has said the current policy must change. “It’s simply not in line with our government’s policies with respect to moving toward an accessibility agenda, (and) how Canadians are increasingly of the opinion that we should be more inclusive as a society,” he told the parliamentary immigration committee last year.

“Sergio is living on borrowed time because of his medical condition. He has no time to wait for the (policy) changes to take its course,” the couple’s immigration lawyer, Patricia Wells, told the Star.

“We applaud the immigration minister for wanting to change the policy so there’s no more discrimination because of medical inadmissibility, but it’s ironic because of the delays, it’s causing more suffering for Sergio.”

Mora, 38, and Soberano, 33, arrived in Canada to visit her family in June 2008 and stayed in the country. Their daughter, Fernanda, 5, and son Sergio, 2, were born here. Mora works as an office cleaner and her husband was a carpenter before he stopped because of his kidney disease.

The family was content to live in Canada under the radar until late 2011, when Soberano fell ill, losing 20 kilograms (roughly 45 pounds) in mere weeks. Blood tests confirmed his renal failure.

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With Soberano’s chronic health needs, the family decided in 2012 to apply for permanent residency on humanitarian grounds.

In 2014, an immigration officer rejected the application, saying that dialysis and treatment would be available in Mexico and the family had failed to show they were established and integrated in Canada.

“The applicants have not established that severing their employment and community ties to Canada would amount to hardship that is unusual and undeserved or disproportionate if they were to return to Mexico,” said the rejection letter.

“Loss of employment will occur should the applicants return to Mexico, however, this is a normal consequence of immigration.”

The couple appealed the decision and the government consented before a hearing in May 2014 to have their case reassessed. The family has been waiting for a decision since.

Although the family’s case has taken far beyond the average 29 months for humanitarian applications to be processed, the Immigration Department said processing times vary because of the resources at an office, the length of time an applicant takes to respond to requests for information and the need for medical and security screening.

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To pay for her husband’s medical bills, Mora has taken on a second office cleaning job, working 80 hours a week.

“If they are going to say no to us, why are they having us wait this long?” asked Mora. “Sergio is getting weaker and weaker. He doesn’t have much time left for a transplant.”

In December, a parliamentary committee recommended Ottawa repeal a provision in the law that bans people with disabilities and excessive health needs from immigrating to Canada. The government must respond to the recommendation by April 12.