It was exciting news for a young Ukrainian family, who arrived in the Interlake region four years ago as religious workers seeking permanent residency near Ashern, when they heard they're one step closer to their goal. Oleksii and Tetiana Vasylievi and their daughter Emiliya were saddened when Oleksii's extension to stay was refused while his wife's and daughter's were granted. Tetiana notes that's now changed.

"We are very, very, very excited. Oleksii was selected from the provincial pool, and we submitted the whole package with all the documents and applications for the province. And we hope that he will become a (provincial) nominee, which will give us a right to stay in Canada and apply for permanent status."

She explains the system works on a point basis, in which work experience, education, and other factors add points to their score toward acceptance.

"This is one of the steps that would take us closer to the permanent status. After you become a nominee you have to submit the full package to the federal government, and then they will make a decision. There is a provincial pool, and everyone who would like to become a nominee of the province must fill out their profile. You get points."

Tetiana outlines the factors contributing to points required for acceptance.

"They look at your education and your work experience, and other factors -- your language level. And then they send you the invitation to apply. So, Oleksii received the invitation to apply. After that, he received a Letter of Advice (to Apply) to submit the whole application with all the documents. When you become a nominee, you get extra points for the federal pool. So, when you become a nominee, that means the province wants you to stay in this province, and the province needs you, and they want you to work and invest in this province.""

She notes they're still not out of the woods quite yet.

"As long as Oleksii doesn't become a nominee he's still in a dangerous spot. Even though we have a file number, it's still doesn't give him a status in Canada. But as soon as he becomes a nominee then he's safe."

Tetiana says they formerly had a deadline of May before the family had to leave the country, seeing as Oleksii lost his extension to remain in the country. However, now that he's submitted his application to the province to be a nominee, they could hear news of their next step any day.

"We don't have a deadline because Oleksii's application for his status restoration is still in the process. But again we don't know how long it might take for that, to process the papers. If the letter from the government comes today or tomorrow, and says, 'Sorry we cannot do the status restoration,' that will be really bad."