Newly minted Canadian citizen Evi Quaid is sponsoring her Oscar-nominated husband Randy to stay in the country, and immigration officers have withdrawn their admissibility proceedings against him.
Randy Quaid and his lawyer met with news media in Vancouver Wednesday morning to give an update on his ever-complicated battle to win refugee status.
The infamous couple came to Canada four months ago fleeing from alleged "Hollywood Star Whackers."
Evi Quaid, 47, begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator to allow them to stay in Canada saying she feared for her 60-year-old husband's life after friends like actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger were "murdered" under mysterious circumstances.
She was later granted residency in the country after it was determined her father was born in Canada. She received her Canadian citizenship card on Feb. 10., according to lawyer Catherine Sas.
Sas says Evi has formally applied to sponsor Randy and she expects he'll be granted permanent resident status before his refugee claim is scheduled.
Randy was also the subject of admissibility proceedings in Canada because of alleged criminal activities south of the border. Sas says those proceedings against him were formally withdrawn on Feb. 16 and she does not foresee any further problems to keep the Quaids in Canada.
Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson Shakila Manzoor told CTV News Quaid is still required to report to officers once a week under the terms of his refugee claim.
The Quaids are both wanted under $500,000 bench warrants in Santa Barbara, California.
They are wanted there for a felony vandalism case in which they're accused of causing more than $5,000 damage to a home they once owned.
The Santa Barbara District Attorney's office says the conclusion of Canadian immigration proceedings will not alter the status of their case against the Quaids.
"[We are] still exploring every option to have the Quaids returned to this jurisdiction to face the criminal charges pending against them," Senior Deputy District Attorney Lee Carter told CTV News in an email.
Quaid also received an award Wednesday from Vancouver Film Critics Circle for his work in the 2008 film Real Time.
The actor maintains he originally came to Canada with the intention to claim the award when he and his wife were first detained back in October.
"Having worked in Canada continuously over the years from the ‘Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz' to ‘Brokeback Mountain' to ‘Real Time,' it was a natural choice for us to come here for some R&R and to finally accept an award I had been given for ‘Real Time,'" he said.
"I look forward to working on many exciting Canadian projects in the future."
With files from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber
