A National Guardsman who refused to redeploy to Iraq was granted a last-minute reprieve from deportation to the United States on Wednesday when Canada’s Federal Court said he could stay while it decides whether to hear his case.

Sgt. Corey Glass, 25, was the first Iraqi war deserter from the U.S. to face imminent deportation from Canada. Glass, who had already moved out of his Toronto apartment and was set to return to the U.S. and possible jail time, was ecstatic.

“This is great news,” Glass said. “It buys a lot of time.”

Glass has petitioned to be allowed to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

He is one of about 200 American deserters believed to have come to Canada to avoid service in Iraq. So far, Canadian immigration officials and the courts have rejected efforts to grant them refugee status.