common-law: outland or inland? + extending visa? please, advise

[ashia]

Hello,

I have pretty popular question: what is better, outland or inland?

We live together here in Canada, I'm on IEC program (one year internship, open work permit), and it seems natural to apply "inland" then, because my current address is Canadian, with my partner.
I understand it takes much longer, but how can I proceed "outland" if I'm currently here? I read about people here who do this, is it ok for immigration office? Not very logical for me, and I have doubts, so I'd rather ask

My next question is: if we would decide to applicate inland, can I extend my current visa? We probably will apply in March or April, I have work permit till November. Can I ask, when submitting our files, to extend my visa and work permit for the period, when our application is in process? If this would be obvious and easy, then probably applying inland sounds more convincing to me, I think.

I know that there is a lot of reading to be done, but these are my two very basic questions, and some answers here would help us with thinking where to start.

Thanks a lot

 

[Rob_TO]

Just to confirm, you have lived together in the same home for at least 12 consecutive months, with no long breaks (over 3 weeks) during that time?

Applying "outland" just means your application is processed outside Canada, and any potential interview would be outside Canada. Where the applicant is actually residing in the world, or if in Canada or elsewhere, is completely irrelevant. If you read the "inland" guide on CIC site, it even encourages people to apply outland instead to get faster processing times.

You can't extend your IEC visa with either an outland or inland PR application. You can try to get a 2nd IEC on your own, but this needs to be done completely separate from your PR app.

With an outland app you can get full SIN and work after the PR is completed. Time for this would depend on your outland visa office.
With an inland app you can apply for an OWP after AIP/stage 1 approval (around 8-9 months).