As many people do, you are confusing the "inland" and "outland" process with where the applicant is living/staying during processing. That's not how it works - with the exception of the fact that all "inland" applicants are required to be in Canada. However, the opposite is not true - it is possible for an applicant to be in Canada with valid temporary status while their "outland" PR application is in process. It is not required that someone wanting to be in Canada during processing apply via the inland process. In fact, unless you are someone from a non-visa-exempt country who would absolutely not be re-admitted to Canada after leaving with a PR application in process, it's better to file outland. Outland means the application is processed at the embassy that represents the country of birth of the applicant. The outland process has no residency requirement - the applicant can be living or visiting anywhere in the world and it will have not affect processing. If you file inland, you forfeit your right to appeal a refusal, the process takes 12-18 months to finalize (as opposed to a US citizen processing time through Buffalo of 4-9 months, plus about 6 weeks for sponsorship approval first at the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, ON) AND an inland applicant is advised not to leave Canada at all during processing because, if they do and they are not re-admitted to Canada, they can't meet the requirement for approval of being resident in Canada with their sponsor and the application is forfeited.
If you are currently in the States with your wife, you should apply to sponsor her via the
outland application process, and you can do that (if you're a Canadian citizen) while you're still living in the States. You will, however, have to provide proof with your application of your intention to re-settle in Canada. Whether or not she is admitted to Canada as a temporary resident prior to approval of her permanent status will depend on the discretion of the officer at the port of entry who interviews her. She will not be permitted to bring all of her personal effects into Canada until she has PR, so that could get dicey if you (as the Canadian) are moving back to Canada and trying to bring her along . . . but there are some guidelines for bringing a "visiting" spouse into Canada to wait with you while the PR ap is being assessed. You can read through them at the
US2Canada website. Follow the links to Visiting, and then Visitor Record for more information.
