OWP for Outland spousal sponsorship?

[Dime]

We are thinking of applying the spousal sponsorship and need some help and clarification on the process. I will briefly explain my situation.
I am here on a PGWP and have applied for CEC in Sept. 2012 (still in progress). My CEC application is taking way too long and is currently in the review (as per email from CIC). I have few doubts about my application getting refused due to some employment factors.
My husband is a permanent resident of Canada. I always thought of spousal sponsorship as a backup plan if in case my CEC gets rejected due to any reason. I was just waiting, waiting and waiting hoping to get the decision on that application (considering the strike as well).
It is over 13 months now and contacting CIC also doesn't help as they sent a generic email saying that my application is in review status and they can't give me any timeline on when can I expect something on that.
We have now decided to go ahead with the spousal sponsorship as well but I couldn't find much information to few of my questions.

Currently, we are in Canada and working fulltime. My work permit is valid till June 2014.
I am confused if we should apply for the inland or outland application?

I read somewhere that after the stage 1 is completed, I will be able to apply for open permit. Does this also apply for outland applications?
As for the inland applications, the stage 1 processing time is 11 months at present. If we go for inland application, my work permit will be expiring before 11 months so I won't be able to apply for open work permit and I don't want to go on a visitor status as I don't want to lose my job.

Should we go for inland or outland application?

 

[Rob_TO]

I read somewhere that after the stage 1 is completed, I will be able to apply for open permit. Does this also apply for outland applications?

No. Outland applications have absolutely no implied status or OWP tied to them. With outland app, you need to maintain work/study/visitor status separately from the application.

As for the inland applications, the stage 1 processing time is 11 months at present. If we go for inland application, my work permit will be expiring before 11 months so I won't be able to apply for open work permit and I don't want to go on a visitor status as I don't want to lose my job.

If you submit an OWP application along with the inland app, you would have at least implied visitor status during the entire processing time as long as you remain in Canada.

If your current work permit is extendable, then implied status would also apply to your current work permit meaning you could continue to work right up until the time you receive OWP, even if current work permit expires.

Some work permits like IEC are not extendable, so do not benefit from implied status. I'm not sure about PGWP.

You could also look at applying for inland or outland spousal PR, and continuing your CEC application at the same time. I believe it's not a problem to have 2 different applications going at the same time, but not completely sure here so others can correct if i'm wrong.