Moving to Canada with American wife Advise

[1Worried Husband]

Hello all,
I'm set to move to Canada in 3 weeks time to start a new job there (I'm a Canadian citizen and current resident who was studying in the states). My issue is this: I was led to believe that all I had to do to get my wife into Canada was to show up at the border, declare her as a visitor, and then change her visitor status to inland PR applicant. Today I was told by someone that this is incorrect information and I will need to apply for Outland PR. I have 2 questions. 1. Was I wrong in my first understanding? 2. If I do have to apply to sponsor her as an outland PR how long will it be before she can move to Canada? Is it just a matter of starting the application and then coming to Canada as a visitor immediately? Any advice would be very much appreciated!

 

[thevisawhisperer]

You can make an inland application for your visitor-status wife. Inland PR applicant is not/not a status and you will have to be sure that your wife maintains her status (either as a visitor or as a worker as you'll be entitled to also apply for an open work permit when you submit the PR application) throughout the process.
When you enter Canada be sure to explicitly state your intention to make an application for PR for your wife. You'll want to have your marriage certificate with you and perhaps documentation to support your relocating to Canada.