A New Zealander who was told he must leave Canada because his permanent residency application was not approved before his Canadian wife died in October has been granted an exemption by the federal immigration minister.

That means Scott Mailman can stay and raise his three-year-old daughter Sydney in Canada, which was his late wife Lisa Mailman’s wish, according to an online petition that was pushing for the exemption.

Ray Chapman, Lisa’s father, told CTV Toronto that Mailman got a call from Immigration Minister John McCallum on Friday, confirming the exemption has been granted.

According to a statement accompanying the petition, Lisa and Scott met in Sydney, Australia, but moved to Canada to raise their daughter here.

Scott had applied for permanent residency with Lisa as his sponsor more than two years before she died of cancer on Oct. 6, in her hometown of Port Perry, Ont.

Scott received a phone call from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to set up a time for his interview – the last step in the process – just hours after Lisa died, according to the petition.