At long last the Vasylievi missionary family from Ukraine has been awarded the nominee status they've been looking for, and will remain in Canada.

We first heard of their plight in January, when Oleksii was denied an extension to stay in the country, after having arrived in the Interlake region near Ashern four years ago.

Click here for that story.

We then reported how people started rallying to their assistance. Click here for that news.

Everything changed late last week when they received the good news. Oleksii's wife, Tetiana, excitedly shares what happened.

"Yes, we are so excited! Just a few days ago Alex got the nominee (status) from Manitoba! And he was nominated to apply for immigration now to the federal government. And he got the work permit. So, we are so, so happy, we cannot even describe it!"

She explains how they learned the news.

"I came back home and he said, 'We got an email. But I didn't look at it. I was waiting for you.' I said, 'Okay, let's look at it together.' So, we opened the email and here we saw the document that he was nominated. And you know, I started to jump around! He was so happy, too!"

Tetiana says Oleksii can now work.

"Now he is allowed to work, and he has an employer. So, he will start working. And then we apply to the federal government for the immigration. He will be installing Internet satellite dishes. When we applied for the provincial nominee (status) we had the employer. He is a local man who has a business here. So, now he can work for him."

She notes their 4 year old daughter, Emliya, was afraid they'd have to leave Canada. Emliya has spent all her life in Canada.

"She doesn't understand a lot about the process, but she said, 'Oh, we are staying!' We said, 'Yes, we are!' She was very happy, too. And she can see that we are happy, so she feels very secure now."

Tetiana extends her thanks.

"I'd like to thank everyone; our friends here, and I know that there were many people that we don't know, and they don't know us. But they were supporting us. They were writing letters and making different phone calls. So, we just want to thank everyone, and the government as well that they gave us this wonderful chance to stay in Canada."

She adds the process still has to go through the final federal government's procedures for immigration.