We applied inland for my wife in January of 2014 and she will need to return to her home country for her brother's wedding this fall. I understand that one cannot leave the country while waiting for their PR visa to be processed but with the wait time being what it is it may take another 1-1.5 years until we get it. Does Immigration Canada make any allowances for this kind of thing as it is very difficult to put one's life on hold for ~3 years until receiving the visa. Appreciate any advice. Thank you.
Leaving the country while waiting for PR visa?
- Thread starter 55way
- Start date
MaryLou6
Hero Member
- Oct 23, 2014
- 25
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Mississauga, INLAND
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 11-09-2014, common-law
- Doc's Request.
- OWP received May 26.2015, SA & AIP August 31, 2015, DM on September 3, 2015
- AOR Received.
- 14-10-2014
- Med's Done....
- upfront
- LANDED..........
- 24-09-2015
Does your wife have an OWP or study permit? I travel a lot, never had any issues. It honestly all depends on the officer you'll get at the border, but you'll be way safer if she has some kind of a visa already.
If you intend to travel outside Canada during processing, then you are supposed to submit an outland application.55way said:
With an inland application, the reason for traveling is irrelevant. In all cases the risk remains that in case the applicant is denied re-entry back into Canada, the inland app is cancelled.
However for a visa-exempt applicant with an OWP in hand, the risk of being denied re-entry is incredibly small. Many people do this with no problems. But just be aware of the risk regardless.
The issue is not with CIC, but rather with CBSA, since they are the ones that could deny her re-entry into Canada.55way said:
It's not that a person cannot leave the country while waiting for their PR visa to be processed...because they can, but rather what happens if they do and are denied re-entry. That's the issue!
And to answer your question about whether or not they make any allowances for this kind of thing...the answer is: sometimes, if you get a border officer that's empathetic and/or is simply not having a bad day.
That may help, but even the OWP doesn't guarantee re-entry. I believe it even says so on the document (does not authorize re-entry).55way said:
If she's never had any issues with CBSA and is not otherwise inadmissible, her chances `appear' to be quite good, IMHO.
I believe your spouse is from a visa-exempt country? In that case there is no such thing as a visitor "visa", since she is visa-exempt. She is in Canada under visitor "status". You can apply to extend visitor status, but the second you leave Canada your visitor status is cancelled, and you need to qualify for brand new status upon re-entry.55way said:
So applying for a status extension in your case doesn't make sense.
Technically, she should be ok. Many visa-exempt travelers have traveled outside and then back into Canada with an inland app in progress. A friend of mine has done this twice now over the past few months and had no issues upon returning. Just make sure to bring proof of the PR app in progress, and the OWP.
Of course nothing is 100% guaranteed, so as I said just be aware of the very small risk of being denied re-entry, even if it's very very small. She would need to encounter a CBSA agent having just a horrible day or who is a complete jerk, to actually deny her entry and send her back to Japan.
Keep in mind also that some airline staff in some countries have problems with people traveling to Canada with no return or onward ticket on hand (even if visa-exempt), and may give a hard time when trying to check in to the flight back to Canada. Not sure how Japanese airlines usually are about this.
Of course nothing is 100% guaranteed, so as I said just be aware of the very small risk of being denied re-entry, even if it's very very small. She would need to encounter a CBSA agent having just a horrible day or who is a complete jerk, to actually deny her entry and send her back to Japan.
Keep in mind also that some airline staff in some countries have problems with people traveling to Canada with no return or onward ticket on hand (even if visa-exempt), and may give a hard time when trying to check in to the flight back to Canada. Not sure how Japanese airlines usually are about this.
Thank you for your feedback. Does anyone else have experience with having gone back to their home country while their inland PR was in progress and then returning to Canada? In this case my wife will be going and coming back by herself so I am concerned about her getting rejected and sent back or similar.Rob_TO said:
Should we write or call to Immigration Canada explaining that she must go back to see her family?
They don't care. As said above, it is CBSA that would be making the decision anyways. There is no way to guarantee her re-entry ahead of time.55way said:
As stated several times above, she will probably be fine. No one on here, even those who have successfully returned, can ever give you the 100% guarantee you seem to be after.