spousal sponsorship and "visit" to Canada

[MVJ67]

My wife is a US citizen, living in the US presently. We will be applying very shortly for the spousal sponsorship/permanent residency program. We are simply waiting for the Police certificate from the FBI, which they say can take 2-3 months.
My first question is : can we submit the sponsorship application now and then submit the permanent resident application once the police certificate comes in ? If the answer is no, is there a way to send in the police certificate to be added to the file ?
The plan is for her to visit me around September, while the application is being processed. She can stay for 6 months as a visitor so I assume, but can she apply for an extension while the paperwork is being reviewed ? Or after 6 months, can she go back to the US and return shortly ?
When crossing the border, it's up to CBSA to put a time limit on her visit or not. Should she say that she's visiting while the application for sponsorship/permanent resident is being processed ? Or simply say visiting my husband ?

 

[scylla]

No - you cannot submit the sponsor section without the applicant section. If you do that, your application will be returned as incomplete.

Yes - you can send the police certificates later. Include a letter saying you're in the process of obtaining them and will provide them later.

Yes - she can apply for an extension once she is close to the end of her visit in Canada. Yes - it's entirely up to CBSA how long she is allowed into Canada. She can say she has a PR application in process but should make it clear she's aware that she can only visit at this time and not live here.

If you have further questions you should ask them in the Family Sponsorship section of the forum.

 

[MVJ67]

Thank you scylla. Very helpful.
I tried contacting the Immigration Canada help centre telephone info and all they told me was "refer to the website"...not much help for a Help department