Please help, Outland or Inland Sponsorship

Inland is not usually the best option for an applicant from a visa-exempt country - there are certain drawbacks to the inland process that can end up being quite an issue. First, there is no right of appeal with an inland application. Secondly, inland has a residency requirement - you have to be residing in Canada with your sponsor in order to be approved for PR under an inland ap. That's because inland applications are processed entirely within Canada, meaning your "landing interview" is held in Canada. If you leave Canada during processing and you're not allowed, for any reason, to re-enter Canada when you try to come back - you forfeit that inland application and you'd have to start all over again (fees, medicals, criminal clearances, etc) with a new outland ap. There is never any guarantee that a foreign national will be admitted to Canada. For visa-exempt nationals, entry is always at the discretion of the officer assessing your request at the port of entry. But probably the biggest drawback to the inland process is that if there are any "issues" or questions with your application - even the requirement for an interview to verify the "genuine nature" of your relationship (more on this later) - the application will not stay at the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville. It will be transferred to your local CIC office and then it becomes subject to that office's own processing timeline. Many people have had their cases delayed for 12-24 months - without having been granted Approval in Principle (AIP) before the transfer.

It is true that if your working holiday visa is still valid at the time your inland PR application is received by CPC-Vegreville, AND you include an extension application (choosing the work permit option) WITH your inland application, you will automatically be issued an OWP when they grant AIP. That is currently taking 6-7 months from receipt of the application - providing there are no complications with the ap that gets it sent to your local office. As soon as you're issued your OWP, you can begin looking for work - but if anything happens, you'll literally be stuck in Canada without the ability to work until your file gets to the top of the queue at your local office. So it's a gamble.

If you file outland you will still have the ability to remain in Canada while the application is processing - but you won't have the work permit option. You would file an extension application separately from your PR application - including proof of your marriage and proof that you have filed (or intend to file) a PR application (good proof is a copy of the receipt for the fees paid) and as long as that extension application is received by CIC while your current status is still valid, you have "implied status" to remain in Canada until they make a decision on the extension (currently about 100 days processing). Most applicants who prove that they are qualified family class applicants are extended. Your outland PR application would go to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga first, where they are currently assessing sponsor's eligiblity in about 30-35 days. Then CPC-M transfers the file to the overseas visa office (London in your case) and they assess the applicant and finalize the file. London is currently finalizing spousal aps in 2-8 months. The drawback to an outland application is that, if an interview is required, you have to attend at the overseas visa office - but you can minimize both the length of time it takes to finalize the application AND the chances of an interview by submitted an absolutely complete application and including lots of quality proof of your genuine relationship (this is not true of the inland process - they don't even look at your application until 6-7 months after it's received). When the file is finalized you will have to send your passport to London, they will issue the Confirmation of Permanent Residence and send it back, and then you briefly leave Canada and re-enter to "land". The outland process does have the right of appeal, and if you needed to leave Canada for any reason, it will not affect processing because outland applications have no residency requirement.

One other thing: because you were initially admitted to Canada on a permit that authorized you to stay for at least one year, you are currently eligible to apply and have your application processed through Buffalo. They might be a little closer depending on where you are in Canada - but that would really only matter if you have to attend an interview . . . and maybe you won't. And Buffalo is not processing as quickly as London - their timeline is 4-9 months as opposed to London's 2-8 months.

So, it's really personal preference. Frankly, I think you have a reasonable chance of having your application finalized through London (and be able to resume working) in less time than it would take to get AIP on an inland ap . . . and you preserve your right of appeal. A trip home during processing might be inconvenient - but it really is possible to provide strong proof of your relationship and thus avoid an interview. It's your preference in the end, but I personally don't think the drawbacks of the inland process are worth the promise of a work permit - especially if you're from a country where the embassy is finalizing aps quickly. Two months minimum is amazing. I'd go with London - especially because it gives you the option to go back to the UK and work if something goes wrong and you find the whole thing taking longer than you expected. You don't have that option with the inland process - again, filing inland tethers you to Canada, even if you don't get AIP and a work permit in a reasonable amount of time.