Hi brftrobin
There are two types of spousal sponsorship PR applications. Inland and outland.
Outland is processed in your own country and is usually faster. (4 -8 months depending on where you're coming from) Buffalo is at least 3 months. (PR part only) Spousal Sponsorship is determined and approved in mississauga which takes about a month.
Inland you may stay with a implied extended visitor status (till you get PR) and when you do apply you can also apply for an open work permit at a cost of CAD150. But inland will take longer (as long as 1.5 years or longer) And the thing is with inland you do not get to appeal if rejected unlike outland you do. Also until you get your PR, you may not leave the country Canada. If you do, the PR application will be dropped.
Most of us do weigh the pros and cons before we decide to go ahead with inland or outland. For me, I stayed in Canada with my husband as a visitor and extended it once while we started the application outland. I returned to my country when it was almost at the end of my application to submit police certs and visit relatives. I'm waiting for my passport to be returned to me now so that I can land. I have friends who applied outland and stayed with their husband till the end (their passport was sent back and forth by mail and with a friend's help) and when it was time to land, they went to new york or a nearby country outside canada and back to land.
Good luck with your application!
