A Windsor man and his Ukrainian wife have been waiting out their spousal sponsorship in Mexico, but things are complicated with the impending arrival of their twins.

Mark Sarty met and married his wife in Ukraine in the summer of 2017. They fled Ukraine for Mexico in December when he said martial law began to be implemented in parts of the country.

Now his wife Marina is pregnant with twins and her doctor in Mexico has advised her to not do any air travel after 20 weeks of pregnancy, as she is a small woman, her husband explained.

"Right now she's 13 weeks pregnant," Mark Sarty said.

Immigration is moving slower than he would like, he said.

Sarty has been approved as a sponsor for Marina's permanent residency application, but they've come across another roadblock.

The Canadian government is asking for Marina to undertake medical exams — which involves a chest x-ray.

Marina Sarty is pregnant with twins and her doctor is advising against any air travel beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy. (Submitted by Mark Sarty)

Sarty explained that as a pregnant woman, Marina cannot take this test, and the direction he's received from Canada is to wait until the children are born before they continue with the immigration process.

"As you can understand, that's almost impossible for us at this moment," said Sarty.

"I want my children to be born in Canada, or secondary case, of course, would be in Ukraine."

'We left there for a reason'

But Ukraine doesn't feel safe enough for Sarty at this moment.

The country will hold its election on April 21 when the new president will be selected. Russia has indicated that it would like to see a change in government in Ukraine, and Sarty worries about how the election results might affect the conflict between the two countries.

"We left there for a reason," Sarty said. "And Ukrainians are great people, great culture, but the status there is really shaky. It is not a good time to go back to Ukraine right now."

In January when CBC News contacted Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, a spokesperson said in an email that the department is "committed to processing most spousal applications in 12 months or less."

However, complex cases may require more time, the email reads.

Sarty first started the process in October 2018. He said they were fully ready to wait out the one year in Ukraine, but the situation took a turn.

He would like the process expedited so his family can enter Canada as soon as possible. Marina's visa for Mexico expires in July.

"I don't ask much from my country," said Sarty.

"It's a land of immigrants and I don't know what's going on right now, why we're not getting answers."