I just wanted to mention that as far as the issue of living with your foreign national spouse while the application is being processed is concerned, there's nothing wrong with that as long as you are a Canadian citizen and not a PR, in which case you must be in Canada while the processing is taking place. If you recall filling out the Sponsor Questionnaire, IMM5540, question 11 asks whether you are currently living in Canada, and if you check "no," it asks when you plan to return to Canada to resume residency and where you will plan to live. It also asks to provide proof of your intention to resettle in Canada when you begin that sponsorship undertaking for your spouse, and that proof may include photocopies of the following: job offer in Canada, property rental agreement, employment contract in Canada, property deed, mortgage on property, or a letter of acceptance at a Canadian educational institution. It also asks you to give details of your plans to re-establish yourself in Canada. Incidentally, the very next question asks if you live with someone and who, so CIC is well-aware of situations in which Canadian citizens are residing with their foreign national spouses abroad (sometimes for years before they even file for the PR application). I don't know if the visa office will assess this information as well, but apparently Mississauga has a chance to assess this information at the time it gives sponsorship approval. I personally think that living with one's spouse abroad is powerful proof of a genuine relationship that would alleviate alot of doubts that an immigration officer might otherwise have about strong ties between the spouse and principal applicant. There have been women whose husbands are being processed in Rabat who have been able to financially afford to do this (or to take several trips of a month each) and it has made a difference in the way that Rabat judged their relationship or it's helped them win an appeal when Rabat denied the visa because they suspected the intentions of the husband.