Spouse permanent residency application - inside Canada or outside?

[elsa.neri]

Hello everyone!

I have too many questions because the internet is full of information and I`m totally confused

My girlfriend is from Ukraine and I`m from Latvia. We are a same-sex couple and we`ve been together for a year on a long distance relationship.
We met shortly before she got an approval of being accepted through an immigration program and we have been doing long-distance since then. We haven`t lived together but we have a huge pile of chat histories, plane tickets from visiting each other almost each month, photos, tickets from concerts and other activities that we`ve done together.
She just moved to Canada a couple of days ago and is officially a permanent resident.
I`m about to go to Canada in September and we`re getting married there as we were not able to do it in our home countries (not legalized, post-sovietic and pretty homophobic).

After the marriage has been registered, can I apply for the permanent residency inside Canada or do I have to return to my home country? EU citizens don`t require a visa to visit Canada, only an electronic travel registration and I can stay there for up to 6 months. I also hear we will have to go through an interview and prove that we got married because of love not because of the permanent residency.

Also, what can be expected after I apply? How long could it take before I can start working? It would be tough on the family financially if only one of us is allowed to work. I`ve heart too many different versions - one of my friends went there and got married there and told me that she started working already a couple of weeks after. Other people told me that the processing time is about 27 months and I would not be allowed to work during that time.
I have too much contradicting information, could someone help on this matter?

Thank you in advance and have a great day!

 

[canadianwoman]

After you get married in Canada your spouse can sponsor you either outland or inland. Inland means you have to stay in Canada living with your spouse. You can leave for short periods of time, but it is not advised to do so, because if you are not let back in to Canada, then the PR application is over. However, with inland you can apply for a work permit.
You could also apply outland. You can do this while staying in Canada with your spouse, or while living outside of Canada.
Outland has usually been faster than inland, but with the new forms we are not sure yet about the typical timelines.

 

[elsa.neri]

After you get married in Canada your spouse can sponsor you either outland or inland. Inland means you have to stay in Canada living with your spouse. You can leave for short periods of time, but it is not advised to do so, because if you are not let back in to Canada, then the PR application is over. However, with inland you can apply for a work permit.
You could also apply outland. You can do this while staying in Canada with your spouse, or while living outside of Canada.
Outland has usually been faster than inland, but with the new forms we are not sure yet about the typical timelines.

Thank you so much for the information! I appreciate it very much.
I suppose the inland option would be better because there is no Canada Visa office in Latvia, the office responsible for applications from the Baltic States is in Poland. So in case the interview is requested, I`d have to fly to Poland.