> or apply for Canada PR

Just curious, can someone apply for permanent residency in Canada without being there in the first place? If that's how it works I'll definitely consider that option.

> unless they have a made a productive use of time by doing stuff such as freelancing

H-4s cannot freelance. My wife is on H-4 and we felt quite disgruntled when our immigration attorney told us that. Basically, she can only do volunteer work. She cannot have income from any kind of work.