moving to canada with kids and husband need help

[jojobeans]

I hope someone can help me.  Myself and my husband are planning moving to Canada.  I am a canadian citizen but my husband isn't.  We have 2 children aged 7 and 9.  Can we move to Canada and my husband be a house husband, as we won't have any relatives to help with children on school holidays, or does he still  need a visa.  Even though I haven't lived in Canada for 32 years can I just move over there with no difficulties?  The more I read about all the paper work, the scarier and more complicated it seems.

We plan to come over next year and travel round the Vancouver area for a month, to look for jobs for me.  Do I need a job before I come over, even though we will have sufficient funds to take over with us. 

[ange]

You can go to Canada no problem. You don't  need a job. Your husband can be a house husband but technically he's only allowed to stay 6 months because he'll be a 'visitor'.  If he wants to stay longer he has to apply for an extension. Depending on what country you come from, he may need to have a visitor's visa. You could apply for permanent residency for your husband. As a spouse, you also won't have to prove financial stability or have a job to sponsor him. You just have to show plans to move back to Canada together with him. You have to apply for canadian citizenship papers for your kids. This can be done from the embassy of the country where you live. Sometimes it takes a long time for them to come in, but that doesn't matter for immigration. You kids are able to move and live in Canada without any other forms, etc.
Hope this helps.

[Leon]

You should apply for your kids proof of citizenship if you haven't already, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof.asp  You can do that at the Canadian embassy where you live.

Bringing your husband over as a house husband without sponsoring him for PR is not really a good idea for future prospects.  First of all, he can only stay as a visitor for 6 months at a time but another thing, if he wants to get a part time job or study, he would need a permit and he would not be able to get health care and in many provinces, he would not be able to get a drivers license while on visitor status.

To sponsor him for PR, you can actually start before you move to Canada but then you would need proof that you will be moving to Canada when he gets his PR.  You could also start the application after you move to Canada with him on visit status.  If it takes longer to process than the 6 months, he can apply to extend his visit status.

If you apply from within Canada, you would have a choice of applying inland or outland.  Inland generally takes longer and doesn't have appeal rights as well as it is not advised to leave Canada while it's in process while outland has the downside that if an interview is required, he would have to go back to his homeland for it.