Thank you everyone.
Here is some information, for people who are in the same situation or for those who get in this situation in the future.
We went forward with the visit visa option and my wife landed on July 13th. She stated temporary intentions at the airport and mentioned she will leave Canada after 2 weeks (There was still time to submit her passport after 2 weeks). Requested virtual landing, on the same day she landed.
Emails I received from IRCC
- "We acknowledge receipt of the documents and wish to inform you that they have been added to the file. Please note, for technical reasons, they may not be visible in your online account. Rest assured that your supporting documents are indeed added and available for officer review"
- Email asking for Height, eye color, and landing info(template)
- A confirmation email(auto-generated). Easy to assume this is the portal invite, but it is not.
- Email with portal invite link and credentials
- After uploading a photo, address, and declaring presence in canada you will get COPR
The whole process took almost a month for me.
If you were like me, confused between coming to Canada on a visit visa or postponing your travel plans and submit passport for PR. You can choose the first option and ask for a virtual landing once you get here. You can be with your partner sooner.
I don't think virtual landing alone delays your application. For some people, virtual landing is taking longer than a month but for some its way faster. I think it depends on your case. Also if your application is already processing in a VO in Canada, it is faster
All this is from personal experience, your case might be different. But I hope this helps.