I'm surprised that you got the PPR within the 12 months. An IRCC agent told me over the phone that they look askance at people who apply for PR visas while they're in Canada on a visitor's visa. As if they are trying to game the system. My wife applied for a visitor's visas to come and see me after we were already married. It was refused as they thought that she would not be a genuine visitor and would remain in Canada. It shouldn't take that long to get his passport back
I think it's a case by case thing, because
I also came to Canada with my then fiancé and now husband who went to get me in Europe. We married in Canada. I came without a visa (I did not need one), just an eTA and got a permit to stay temporarily for 6 months.
I told the officer at the airport our intentions of getting married and that I would stay here. He was a angry and bit skeptical, but this was because we made the mistake of not declaring our cats at customs. We did not read the instructions properly on the screen and that made him angry. But I explained to him and told him we are sorry for that and he then calmed down and let me pass.
One month before my temporary visa expired, I asked for a temporary visa extension of 3 months because my passport expired and I couldn't ask for a lo nger extension at that time.
This happened because I listened to an employee of an organization called CACI here in Montréal, who told me that I can ask for a visa extension no matter when my passport expires. Also he said I have to apply for an OWP togheter with the sponsorship application and that after asking for a second visa extension, I could not ask for a third one.
But all not true. You cannot ask for a visa extension that expires on a later date then your passport expires.
(My husband told me that, but sadly I did not listen to him. I learned a lot from this mistake. Now I listen to him.)
Also, there is really not a limit on how many times you can ask for a temporary residency visa to be extended. IRCC decides that on a case by case basis.
So we did everything ourselves when applying for the inland spousal sponsorship application. No lawyer and no other internediary involved.
(We used an accountant to do our tax return and sadly she made several mistakes and I had to call Revenu Québec and talk to them for more then two hours for them to correct the mistakes she made. Now I don't trust accountants with the tax return and no matter how complicated it is to file, I prefer we do it ourselves. And everything we can do ourselves that has to do with the government, we will do it ourselves, it's better.)
After sending the first extension, I renewed my passport and as soon as I got it, I sent a second application for a temporary residency extension until 2021 which I was granted.
In the temporary visa extension we sent them all required documents and I explained in a letter that we would send in the family spousal sponsorship application as soon as we would have gathered all the required documents (which we did on April 39th), and I explained to them my intentions to stay here in Canada permanently with my husband and our pets. From the start I said I am coming to Canada to marry my husband and to stay with him forever.
What I want to say with my story is, that I do not think it's every time suspicious if someone comes to Canada, marries here and applies for PR from within Canada. Also the best thing is to tell them from the beginning your intentions to stay, like we did, because it is the truth and it is normal that if I come to Canada together with my then fiancée to marry him and we bring our two cats, of course I will not leave the country afterwards. That would make no sense at all. Which wife who loves her husband wants to be apart from him?
I never sensed them getting suspicious and thinking about me wanting to game the system or anything similar.
If they would, I don't think I would have been able to get a temporary residency extension until 2021.
I think maybe it depends on the country of origin of the applicant, or how well people can or are willing to explain their specific situation. Maybe this agent did not say the truth or is misinformed or told you that as an explanation for your situation just to calm you down. I worked at a call center and sadly those kinds of things happen on a daily basis.
To me it was just normal that if I marry my husband I will surely not stay apart from him for a few months or one year or more before coming here. That was out of the question. And surely most immigration officers I think understand this. That's why outland spousal sponsorships get processed faster then the inland ones. They want to achieve a faster family reunification.
I hope anyways that your wife was able to get the PR and if not yet, that she will get it within the 12 months timeframe.
May God bless you.
