Family coming from Bulgaria !!!

[Judith Oudejans]

Hello everyone!
I am a Canadian living in Bulgaria, married to a Bulgarian (Alexandar Pavlov - he has written before ). We have 2 children who both have Canadian citizenship. We have decided to move to Canada. Actually, I'm going to go soon (late Febr.) to start looking for work, find a place to live, etc. The children will finish their school year here in BG. I have some specific questions and would be really grateful for anyone's help.

1. Is it better to submit the documents for becoming a sponsor (me) and obtaining PR (for my husband) here in BG or when I'm in Canada? Is either way faster? Do they have to be submitted at the same time?
2. I will come back to BG in June to help the family move to Canada. Can my husband go with us even if he doesn't have the PR yet? Would he need another kind of visa if he doesn't have the PR?
3. The children have Canadian citizenship so they don't need to be sponsored, but they are dependent in the sense that they are under 19 years of age. I guess that I should list them as dependent children but don't need to fill out separate applications for them. Is this correct?

Thanks for your help! Good luck to all.

 

[canadianwoman]

Whether you send in the application from Bulgaria or from Canada, it will be the same application - an outland one. I would wait until you are back in Canada, because then you can say you are living in Canada and will not have to provide proof you intend to move back to Canada when your husband gets the PR visa. It will probably take you until late Feb. to complete the application anyway. You send your application to sponsor and his application to immigrate together to Mississauga.
The children don't need separate applications, since they are not immigrating. They do have to be mentioned on the forms as your dependents.
Your husband needs a visa to visit Canada. He will have to apply for a temporary resident visa (a visitor visa) if his PR is not ready by the summer; it probably won't be ready by then. To get a TRV, he has to show ties to Bulgaria, such as a job, a house or apartment, bank accounts, investments, etc. He has to be clear that he is just going to Canada to visit, and will leave when his visitor visa is up. (Of course, he can extend his visitor visa once in Canada if he wants.)