cillyx5 said:
Some great reading on this post. Thanks, everyone.
This pilot certainly makes inland applications more appealing. My question is, how does a US citizen legally get into Canada to live prior to applying inland? I can't imagine that I just book my husband a one-way ticket from the US to Canada and customs allowing him in because we will be applying for PR inland. Can someone please clarify how this works?
We have been married for over 2 years, living in the US. I am a Canadian citizen, and we were looking into applying outland. From what I can read/see, the outland applications are happening in 7-9months. I believe this means in 7-9 (if numbers stay consistent), he can legally enter Canada to live, work, study, and have health care. Yes?
So much thanks to everyone who posts on here. There's so much to learn from everyone asking questions and especially those taking the time to answer.
ask canuck said, US applicants are getting approved in 6 months or less! for solid proof of this, check my stats to the left, and click on the blue link in my signature below. that is the ottawa spreadsheet where we track progress. you will notice most applicants from 2014 are approved and landed. Currently July 2014 applicants are getting approved. the OWP for inland applicants is NOT a reason to apply for inland processing. just because CIC says it will be issued in 4 months, doesn't mean that will actually happen. we won't know that actually happens until probably march when the first round of applicants are approved.
Look at it this way, for a us applicant:
apply outland - be totally approved in 6 months, be able to legally work and apply for healthcare.
apply inland - take 2 years for total approval,
hopefully get the open work permit issued in 4 months, which doesn't automatically mean a person can apply for health care (dependant on the province) or get a job. some provinces (such as ontario) requires the person to have an employer and i *think* work a certain amount of hours
before they are eligible for healthcare. remember, it take time to get a job and not all employers can hire foreign workers on a work permit. the government issues quotas for businesses on that, so it's not guaranteed. while it's also not guaranteed a pr will find a job, i'd imagine they are more appealing to an employer because they have full, permanent, legal status (as opposed to temporary permission to work). while "survival jobs" are easier to get, they usually pay minimum wage ($11/hour) or just over. professional full time jobs will take 6-8 months to secure for most people, sometimes longer especisally for those without canadian experience or references. also, i'm not sure how it works when a person has multiple jobs or wants to change jobs when they have an owp. it is definitely something to research and consider if employers can be changed automatically or if a person can hold more than 1 job while on an OWP. I honestly don't know much about the rules and if it matters.
While i have no doubt the OWP is a welcomed piece of paper for those stuck in inland processing for 2 years and who wouldn't see a quick outland processing (such as those from countries requiring visas), in my opinion as a US citizen, the "jump start" the OWP gives a person isn't enough to say it's beneficial for any visa exempt applicant to apply inland. APPLY OUTLAND! You will certainly be happy with the choice 6 months down the road. Yes, an applicant can be IN Canada as a visitor while their outland application processes. they can not work in canada until they are approved for PR. They CAN work remotely for us employer while there, so that is usually the ideal situation. I really think when making a decision, it's important to understand the larger picture. as ponga said in a previous post "don't let the dangling carrot fool you"!
Either way, no matter which you choose (achem - outland -achem), you will want your husband to have a return ticket upon his arrival to canada. not having one will be a red flag for CBSA and most likely trigger a secondary inspection. it's always best to get a refundable ticket that you can cancel after entering!
yup I have valid status (working permit) when we apply & it's my mistake not to renew it before it expired coz I thought if I submit OWP together with the Sponsoship they will give me or process my OWP before my work permit exprired but when I find out that they process that OWP when 1st approval is done for Sponsoship so my status before implied status then they by August 2014 they sent back to me my OWP because of 5$ that I own them coz of the processing fee is increase 150 to 155$ so I immidiatelly apply visitor visa to restorate my status, that's my story. 
