OpenVisaMy status expires before we can submit. What now?
The sponsorship and the status are two applications with two clocks.
Apply to extend or change status before the expiry date, and the status continues while IRCC decides. The sponsorship and the status are separate applications, and the status one has the short deadline.
1. What happens if we apply before it expires?
If you apply to extend or change your status before it expires, your status continues under the same conditions until IRCC decides. This is what people call maintained (formerly implied) status.
Subject to subsection (5.1), if a temporary resident has applied for an extension of the period authorized for their stay and a decision is not made on the application by the end of the period authorized for their stay, the period is extended until (a) the day on which a decision is made, if the application is refused; or (b) the end of the new period authorized for their stay, if the application is allowed.
What to apply for depends on what you qualify for: a visitor record (to stay as a visitor), a work permit extension, or a study permit extension. For an inland sponsorship (Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class), the spousal open work permit (SOWP) application counts as an application to change status when it's filed before expiry.
2. What if it has already expired?
You have 90 days to apply for restoration, and you don't have status while the restoration is being decided.
On application made by a visitor, worker or student within 90 days after losing temporary resident status as a result of failing to comply with a condition imposed under paragraph 185(a), any of subparagraphs 185(b)(i) to (iii) or paragraph 185(c), an officer shall restore that status if, following an examination, it is established that the visitor, worker or student meets the initial requirements for their stay…
The inland class normally requires temporary resident status. Losing it doesn't automatically close the class. Under a 2005 public policy, a spouse or partner who is out of status only because they overstayed, worked or studied without authorization, or entered without a required visa or passport can still be sponsored inland (Guide 5289). A lapse still ends the right to stay, work or study, and other kinds of inadmissibility aren't covered.
3. What happens to the inland application if the extension is refused?
Maintained status lasts while the extension is pending. If it's refused, status ends on refusal. The inland application can continue under the out-of-status public policy, but the applicant is then in Canada without status.
4. On the form
The Generic Application Form (IMM 0008) and Schedule A (IMM 5669) ask for the applicant's current status and its expiry date. Put the document you actually hold and its real expiry, and note "maintained status, extension applied on [date]" where the form allows. An applicant without status gives an explanation and any paperwork about their status, as the checklist asks.
OpenVisa is software, not a lawyer or RCIC. This page explains what the rules and forms say; it is not advice about your case. You submit your application yourself.