A newly married couple living in Thornbury is spending their third week together as husband and wife, but they’ve already spent 102 days separated thanks to the pandemic.
Jamie Miller and Sachin Menezes were married in Australia on March 1. Menezes is Australian, Miller is Canadian. They met in Canada while Menezes was here on a work visa and got engaged in Australia where Miller was on a work visa.
They were married March 1, 2020, in Australia, pre-pandemic.
“At that point, COVID was kind of starting, but we didn’t realize the magnitude because it wasn’t on Australia’s radar,” said Miller.
The newlyweds planned to fly back to Canada on March 30 to celebrate with Miller’s family and spend six months in her home country before deciding where to live.
When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, Miller thought she better get home where she had health coverage.
She left March 16 and Menezes kept his ticket for March 30.
“I left Perth, touched down in Melbourne, and they announced the Canadian border closure,” said Miller.
But she kept optimistic since the official announcement indicated immediate family could still come across the border. But Menezes could not come to Canada and March 30 came and went with the couple remaining on opposite sides of the world.
“They kind of went back on their word,” said Miller. “[Border crossing] has to be deemed essential, and you being with your spouse doesn’t necessarily mean it was essential.”
She found groups of people on social media who had been separated by border closures.
“People were being denied coming home even for the birth of their child,” said Miller. “We didn’t want to attempt to fly [Menezes] across the world only for him to be denied by the Canadian Border Service Agency.”
And then Australia shut its borders, not allowing citizens to leave the country.
“It was a waiting game,” said Miller.
They kept in touch through video calls, each updating the other on the states of their countries. In Australia the number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 was significantly lower than in Canada, so Menezes didn’t experience the Canadian version of lockdown with grocery store lineups and chalk circles drawn in parks.
Finally, June 8, the Canadian government loosened border restrictions to allow family members to come to Canada.
“We were super pumped,” said Miller. “Sachin was asleep, and I was keen so I decided to call flight centres.”
That’s when she hit another wall. Australians needed a government-issued exemption to leave the country.
The couple applied twice and were denied twice. On the third time, they submitted every supporting document they could think of, including the marriage certificate.
Finally, they had an exemption.
Menezes flight was booked on June 17.
“Both of us were scared, because there’s been so many hurdles and so many things thrown at us,” said Miller. “Our biggest fear was a second wave and having them revoke his permission to come into the country.”
Menezes landed in Canada on June 26. Miller, like any new bride, had visions of a dramatic and romantic reunion.
But it’s 2020, and that was not to be.
“I had this image of us running into each other’s arms,” she said. But the pandemic has made a pariah of public hugging, and the airport doesn’t allow welcoming parties right now.
“It was a very surreal experience … we were apart for 102 days after being married two weeks and I had to wait in the parking lot for him to come home,” said Miller. “It wasn’t the magical moment you would picture from a movie.”
And yet, there’s a silver lining. Mandatory quarantine for international travellers means the newlyweds are legally required to stay at home together for 14 days. They’ve hunkered down in their home in Thornbury and are using the time to catch up.
“We are doing amazing,” said Miller. “I feel like we’re catching up on so much lost time … we’re finding time to sit outside on the patio, watching movies, reconnecting on a deeper level than what you’re used to because we’ve been separated for so long.”
They hope to one day have a honeymoon road trip to western Canada. Menezes is in Canada on a six-month visitor visa, so the couple will spend the time figuring out their career paths and choosing a country to live in.
In the interim, they’re getting a quarantine honeymoon thanks to a global pandemic.
“It’s a crazy part of our love story,” said Miller of the couple’s COVID separation. “Having been apart that long definitely made us stronger coming out on the other side.”