The Viviers family in a 2002 photo in Prince Rupert. (CBC)

A family from sun-baked South Africa has officially won an 11-year fight to live permanently in rainy Prince Rupert, B.C.

Several members of the Viviers family have a rare skin disease that forces them to hide from the sun. So in 1999, the family moved to B.C.'s northern coast, one of the most reliably cloudy places they could find.

'It's the Christmas present we wanted.'—John Viviers

But federal immigration officials said they did not qualify to stay in the country.

The Viviers took their struggle all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where they won the right to stay.

Maggie Viviers walks in the Prince Rupert snow with son Dominic. (CBC)

Last week, the family travelled east for a brief visit to the city of Prince George to receive permanent resident status.

Outlook clear for 2010

"This is the Christmas present we wanted — to be able to start 2010 as permanent residents," John Viviers told the Prince Rupert Daily News.

Viviers and his two children, Dominic, 22, and Heloise, 21, suffer from porphyria, a rare genetic disorder that can lead to severe skin reactions if they are exposed to too much direct sunlight. The children's mother, Maggie Viviers, does not have the affliction.

The Viviers said they could not have endured the fight to stay in Canada without the help of people in Prince Rupert, who donated furniture and clothes to the family, along with constant moral support.

At one point, two local First Nations were willing to adopt the family and move them to their tribal lands where immigration authorities might have had difficulty taking them into custody.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that the Viviers could stay in Canada, but It still took another five years to win permanent resident status.

The Viviers hope to become Canadian citizens in 2011.

With files from The Canadian Press