It’s an interesting question, which I had to re-read in order to see exactly what it was getting at.
In my airline, generically I’d have two options:
a) fly the NPA using a CDA to MDA then continue for a straight-in or GA,
b) fly the NPA to circling minima then “circle”, as long as I had achieved visual reference before the MAP.
You could make the argument that due to the weather, the runway was not suitable for a straight-in and as long as you had sight of the runway environment, which you should do as you’re over the airfield, then that satisfies the regulations, especially if you offset dead-side a little.
The actual conditions vs. minima makes a big difference as well. If you have visual conditions you can always “revert” to VFR and fly circuits but you’re constrained to the circling area if not.
Overall, I think there is enough to make a decent defence over the legality of such a manoeuvre but if it’s that marginal that you can’t see the airfield off the instrument approach, personally I’d go somewhere else...