Every time she heard it open, Orlagh Madigan looked nervously at the red door of the Irish pub she and her husband own in downtown Kingston.

The pub hadn’t yet opened for lunch, but it wasn’t midday diners she was looking for.

She was waiting for the people who might end her stay in Canada.

On Thursday, Madigan was only visiting PJ Murphy’s Irish Pub on Ontario Street, as she has several times in the past three weeks, ever since she was told by an immigration officer that because her work visa had expired, she could not legally work in Canada.

If she did work, and an immigration officer caught her, she could be deported.

PJ Murphy’s is the second eatery the couple have opened since coming to Canada from Ireland more than seven years ago, but it might be their last Canadian venture because of the ongoing problems with their immigration status that could force them to close and leave the country, possibly putting about 30 people out of work.

“We actually really like the people we employ and there are 30 of them. They are from all walks of life. I’m trying to protect them, and that is the bottom line,” she said.

“Who is going to be accountable for the job loss?”

In total, the pub’s payroll is about $30,000 a month. They own two downtown buildings. If Madigan’s immigration status can’t be worked out, she said they may be forced to shut down the pub.

“I don’t want this to be a really negative thing about Canadians. We moved here for a reason: we like Canadians. But I want to point out that you have serious problems with your system,” Madigan said.

The couple came to Canada with their two children in 2011. After extending the original two-year visas three times, they expired last August.

Her husband, Gerry, applied for and eventually received a new work permit in December after completing a Labour Market Impact Assessment, a process meant to ensure that people coming to Canada do not take jobs from Canadians.

Once her husband had his work visa, Madigan said she expected to get hers approved as well.

But she was told by immigration officers that because her work visa had expired, she had been staying and working in Canada illegally. She was given the choice of leaving the country and returning to apply for another work visa, or staying in Canada as a visitor for three more months and then leaving.

“The Canadians are saying, ‘These are our rules.’ I am saying, ‘OK, I respect your rules because it is your country,’” she said. “They did one thing for Gerry and a completely different thing for me. We have the same visas, the same dates, the same family, the same company, the same problem.

“We have the same visas. He was accepted. I was declined.”

Along with the couple’s questionable immigration status, the family was told they could no longer be covered by provincial OHIP. On Wednesday, they purchased private medical insurance.

“What they are saying is we should sell this building, sell that building, sell our house and leave, and we are very close to doing that,” Gerry said. “We sold our house in Ireland, we sold our business in Ireland and invested money in Canada. We actually cut ties with Ireland because we were told that was what you had to do. They wanted to see that you are coming here to stay here.”

When contacted by the Whig-Standard, a spokesperson for Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen declined to comment about the case, citing privacy reasons.

A spokesperson from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada also said they could not comment on the case without consent, but added that immigration officers at border crossings have the authority to make decisions about immigration applications.