To the American PA's--have you guys considered waiting inland while the outland process is ongoing or would this logistically be too difficult? That's what my husband and I are doing, I just bought a plane ticket for next month and we'll drive across the border to do biometrics if I still haven't gotten the request by then. We've been separated for far too long (married almost a year ago, started dating nearly 8 years ago) and we can no longer wait. But of course, logistically this is a bit simpler for me seeing as I am currently living with my parents and I work at a school, so my work year will be finished by next month. I know not everyone has similar circumstances, but it's just a thought/suggestion.
My wife and I are doing this currently. I'm American, and we applied outland. I've been coming back and forth between Canada and the states in two month stints at a time. Our imm. lawyer said we weren't doing anything wrong by doing this, as long as I stated it every time I came through customs. It's up to the border/customs people if they want to let me in or not. So far we haven't had any issues (knock on wood) Granted I print EVERYTHING off in case I do get hauled off to secondary.
The sucky thing is after I finished doing my medical I flew back up to Canada, and not a week later they requested my biometrics. Which I had to fly back to do down to the states. I waited a few weeks to do so, because plane tickets were expensive. So that was kind of a pain, since we didn't really know the timeline of when they would want the biometrics done, and it kind of seemed all over the place with other applicants.
Now I'm back in Canada for a month, or until we get a passport request, then I'll head back down and wait that out. (Also, I'm a freelancer/contractor web and graphic designer, so work isn't any issue with "visiting", as long as my clients remain American. I also state this at customs - but only when they ask what I do for a living haha) Hope that helps a wee bit.