How can a Canadian get an open work permit for his American spouse?
Answer:
Has your friend applied to Sponsor his wife to become a Permanent Resident? You can put an Open Work Permit in with this application only. Why does she have to leave every 6 months? She doesn't need a visa to enter Canada, her passport allows her to stay in Canada for up to 6 months. I am surprised that she hasn't had problems entering Canada every 6 months. To stop re entering Canada every 6 months she should apply for an extension of her staying in Canada. The extension costs $75 and it will at least help, so she doesn't have to go to the US every 6 months.
With the Spousal sponsorship, is he doing the paperwork from within Canada or the US? The applications are different just for your information.
As far as working, she has to have some type of status in Canada. Example the visitor record... Once she has status in the country she can look for a job. The only catch is that the employer has to do paperwork with Human Resources Canada to ensure that there is no other person that can do her job. They come back with a confirmation number and she can apply for the work permit by sending it to Buffalo. She will only be allowed to work for that particular job. An open work permit allows her to work for anyone.
The reason why I know this is because my husband is American, and this is what we have done. Below is the application for the extension and the government website with all the instructions he will need. Oh yes his wife will be required to get a police certificate from every state she lived in and an FBI certificate( if you apply... they need to put a date of when the certificate is needed) Or you will wait for a while.
Hope this helps