ifear said:
But I dont plan to leave Canada during the processing time. I dont see anywhere on it suggesting that I do the application from outside of canada. Also, if I have to go back to the states for the interview its really inconvenient, seeing as how not only the processing center for the paperwork there and where i'd have to do the interview is nowhere near my home state. Traveling to and fro is not cheap and im not going to do it just for a little bit faster processing time.
As others mentioned, it's perfectly fine to reside in Canada and apply outland. Any immigration consultant or lawyer who says differently is a complete idiot as this is one of the most basic fundamental aspects to a family class app.
Inland applicants MUST be residing in Canada. Outland applicants can be residing anywhere in the world (including Canada).
The link to CIC inland guide explaining this was posted above. Personally, my wife applied for OUTLAND sponsorship even though she resided in Canada before and during the entire processing time. We even put our Canadian address in the application, and didn't put any address whatsoever from her home country. When approved, they mailed her COPR directly to our address in Canada, where we took to nearest USA land border to do her PR landing.
There has not been 1 single reported case on this forum, of an outland applicant getting rejected simply because they lived in Canada.
If you've been married 2.5 years and put together a solid application, you have a practically zero chance of needing an interview. An outland app for you could be done in 5-6 months or so, possibly even quicker. Meanwhile if you apply INLAND, you are looking at 2 full years.