Travel with Open Work Permit while waiting for PR

[mc1875]

Hi all - I am a US/Canadian dual citizen recently moved to Canada from the US. My wife of ten years is a naturalized US citizen and we have applied for inland sponsorship as well as an open work permit. As I understand, the OWP is likely to come soon after the first stage approval, now about 11 months. My wife came on a visitor visa and now has implied status. I understand that it is not advisable for her to travel out of the country while the application is being processed. However, does it make any difference once she has an OWP? We would like to visit her family. I understand the OWP itself does not authorize re-entry but was wondering if a US citizen with an OWP would be granted re-entry. Is there any way to know for sure? We would be traveling to Japan, her home country.
Thanks...

 

[Sweden]

She is never guaranteed re-entry. With an inland application, you're supposed to stay in Canada for the duration of the application. You might get away with it - leave Canada and re-enter, but if for any reason the border officer decides not to let her in, her inland application will be deemed abandoned and she will have to start all over again.
So - if she wanted to be able to travel outside of Canada without risking her application, outland is the way to go, not inland.

Sweden

 

[scylla]

She SHOULD be allowed back in - but as Sweden says, there's never a guarantee and there's nothing you can do to guarantee re-entry. If she isn't allowed back in, this will effectively cancel her application and you'll have to start again from scratch. You'll have to weigh the pros and cons and decide if it's worth the risk.