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Heading Home: Top Tips for Moving Your Family to Canada

Moving home is often a challenge but moving your family to a different country is a different ballgame altogether.

Canada is an attractive destination for many young families and people who like the fact that the second largest country in the world by area, has less than 40 million residents, feel that the open spaces and quality of life are an ideal combination for raising a family.

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Before you start searching Alberta homes for sale or whatever area of Canada that you are looking at moving to, there are some things you need to know and applications you will have to make in order to be able to make the move official.

Getting started

If you decide that Canada is where you would like to move your family to, you will need to apply for permanent Canadian residency through the office of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Most people will want to pay an extended visit to an area where they would like to live in Canada, so that they can check out local schools, amenities and other aspects that are in important factor in choosing where to relocate.

You can visit the country for up to 180 days without having to apply for a Canadian visa, provided you have a valid U.S passport or NEXUS card.

Choice of residency

The type of application for residency you make will be heavily influenced by your qualifications.

There are numerous different types of residential application that you can make to gain entry to Canada on a permanent basis including Skilled Workers and Professionals to Investors and Entrepreneurs.

Visit the official government website to determine your eligibility for specific immigration and programs such as Express Entry and family sponsorship for example and also so that you can determine what aspects of your profile or qualifications that could potentially make you inadmissible, which is something you would want to find out as early as possible before you make any further plans.

Making an application

You can actually print the required application form from the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website once you have decided which immigration program you are likely to be eligible for based on the required criteria.

You will be required to submit various supporting documents along with your application and this may include proof of finances and confirmation of your language proficiency, which may include French if you are looking at an area like Montreal or other French-speaking provinces.

Family Class Visas          

If you apply for a Family Class Visa, this will often give you permission to stay in Canada for up to five years, so that you have plenty of opportunity to create some important family stability and find suitable employment.

The fundamental key to this type of visa is finding a sponsor. A sponsor will be an existing Canadian permanent resident who is related to you and is willing to confirm to the authorities that they are willing to support you financially if they are called upon to do so.

An advantage of the Family Class Visa if you already have family living in Canada, is the fact that you don’t have to have secured a job offer in order for your application to be accepted.

Moving your family to Canada could be the start of a great future, but make sure you get all the facts and figures right before you set the date for your big family move.

Peter Berry has been a relocation consultant for a number of years. He appreciates the chance to share his insights online and his thoughts can be found across a variety of websites.

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