Keeping Bank Accounts and Investments alive in the US after moving to Canada

[GeekSync]

I have moved to Canada as an Indian Citizen and Canadian Permanent Resident however haven't moved all the money from the US. I have bank accounts and stock investments.
Instead of transferring them over to Canadian Bank and losing a lot through currency exchange rate and fees, I would like to keep them in the US.

Is it OK if I give these institutions my friend's address and file my Federal tax returns as normal reporting any income I received as dividends and interest? I won't be a resident so I will have to file a non-resident form. Also, reporting the assets to CRA if they exceed $100k (or whatever their limit is).

Worst case, can I give a mailing service company's address (they charge some fees) and use that address instead ?

Not sure if anyone of you are currently doing this? Long term plan is to work in the US on TN visa so I hope to get back to US someday. When that happens I don't want to move money again from Canada to US.

 

[steaky]

Is it that you cannot give them your Canadian address?

 

[mpsqra]

I have moved to Canada as an Indian Citizen and Canadian Permanent Resident however haven't moved all the money from the US. I have bank accounts and stock investments.
Instead of transferring them over to Canadian Bank and losing a lot through currency exchange rate and fees, I would like to keep them in the US.

Is it OK if I give these institutions my friend's address and file my Federal tax returns as normal reporting any income I received as dividends and interest? I won't be a resident so I will have to file a non-resident form. Also, reporting the assets to CRA if they exceed $100k (or whatever their limit is).

Worst case, can I give a mailing service company's address (they charge some fees) and use that address instead ?

Not sure if anyone of you are currently doing this? Long term plan is to work in the US on TN visa so I hope to get back to US someday. When that happens I don't want to move money again from Canada to US.

you can leave the money in the USA
you need to update residency address and mailing address of your accounts in the USA

 

[GeekSync]

I don't think I can give them Canadian address (especially Robinhood)

 

[Tubsmagee]

If you are close enough to the border, you could just get a PO Box from the closest post office.

 

[GeekSync]

Yes I am close to the border however didn't know if it is normal to rent a PO box and cross the border on Visitor Visa (that I fortunately got before Corona). Right now border is closed but I would prefer this method over other mail delivery services. Also I have to find out if banks accept PO box as the address. Thanks !

 

[GeekSync]

Does anyone have personal experience who has rented a PO box and crossed border in the past just to get mail?

 

[Tubsmagee]

Does anyone have personal experience who has rented a PO box and crossed border in the past just to get mail?

I don’t know if every bank will accept it, but bet most would. I had a PO Box in WA when I was living in B.C. and received all mail there, including from two banks/credit unions. I still use PO address since our mail is not secure otherwise, and have never had issues with banks not accepting it as a mailing address.

Here is info on documents needed for a PO Box - https://www.usps.com/manage/po-box-help-popup.htm

 

[GeekSync]

Thanks, I will definitely try this and update this thread when I actually do it. As mentioned before, due to border closing I won't be able to go to USPS but hopefully soon

 

[Tubsmagee]

Thanks, I will definitely try this and update this thread when I actually do it. As mentioned before, due to border closing I won't be able to go to USPS but hopefully soon

Something to consider - when I came back to US from another country (not CA), I emailed the Postmaster for the area I was going to and explained that I was on way and wanted to put a mail forward in, but knew that I needed to physically go into PO to verify identity. He let me sign up online (anyone can do this part), and then emailed me box number so that I could have mail sent to it. I wasn’t able to get the key until actually going in to verify identity weeks later.

 

[GeekSync]

Something to consider - when I came back to US from another country (not CA), I emailed the Postmaster for the area I was going to and explained that I was on way and wanted to put a mail forward in, but knew that I needed to physically go into PO to verify identity. He let me sign up online (anyone can do this part), and then emailed me box number so that I could have mail sent to it. I wasn’t able to get the key until actually going in to verify identity weeks later.

That's good to know. I may not be able to physically go but at least start redirecting the mail if they give me PO box number

 

[Mumbai2Canada]

I have moved to Canada as an Indian Citizen and Canadian Permanent Resident however haven't moved all the money from the US. I have bank accounts and stock investments.
Instead of transferring them over to Canadian Bank and losing a lot through currency exchange rate and fees, I would like to keep them in the US.

Is it OK if I give these institutions my friend's address and file my Federal tax returns as normal reporting any income I received as dividends and interest? I won't be a resident so I will have to file a non-resident form. Also, reporting the assets to CRA if they exceed $100k (or whatever their limit is).

Worst case, can I give a mailing service company's address (they charge some fees) and use that address instead ?

Not sure if anyone of you are currently doing this? Long term plan is to work in the US on TN visa so I hope to get back to US someday. When that happens I don't want to move money again from Canada to US.

I have a similar situation to yours barring the moving back to the US bit(I am not actively planning such a thing long term though if it happens to be the best option for me down the line then I may pursue it at that stage). I moved back to India earlier this year though I still have my BOA account(which has the bulk of my settlement funds). I intend to move to Canada as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted. Seeing that you have already landed there, what in your opinion is the best Bank to open an account with over there which would facilitate a smooth transfer of funds from the US account to the Canadian account? Also,can the BOA debit card be used in Canadian Bank ATMs?

My apologies for hijacking your thread with a different concern but your situation and mine seemed somewhat similar so I thought of posting this here.

 

[GeekSync]

I have transferred very limited funds to Canada to help me get settled here. I used BOA Wire Transfer, although there are other options available (such as https://www.knightsbridgefx.com ). I used BOA ATM here initially, you have to let them know through app/website that you are traveling overseas. Please verify your daily withdrawal limit as I had to call them to increase my daily limit. (I needed the money to pay rent deposit, I didn't carry enough $CAD). I think they charge about $3 to use Canadian Bank ATM BUT if you use Scotia Bank ATM, then there are no charges. This is also the bank I opened my account with and so far I have had no issues. I traveled from India and kept ICICI global travel card with me just in case BOA didn't work and I found it very useful because you don't have to pay $3 transaction fee to BOA or your US credit card company for grocery/train tickets/restaurants. Offcourse you can carry cash that you withdraw from BOA account.

 

[Mumbai2Canada]

I have transferred very limited funds to Canada to help me get settled here. I used BOA Wire Transfer, although there are other options available (such as https://www.knightsbridgefx.com ). I used BOA ATM here initially, you have to let them know through app/website that you are traveling overseas. Please verify your daily withdrawal limit as I had to call them to increase my daily limit. (I needed the money to pay rent deposit, I didn't carry enough $CAD). I think they charge about $3 to use Canadian Bank ATM BUT if you use Scotia Bank ATM, then there are no charges. This is also the bank I opened my account with and so far I have had no issues. I traveled from India and kept ICICI global travel card with me just in case BOA didn't work and I found it very useful because you don't have to pay $3 transaction fee to BOA or your US credit card company for grocery/train tickets/restaurants. Offcourse you can carry cash that you withdraw from BOA account.

Thanks a ton for the detailed response !

 

[subodhp]

> Is it OK if I give these institutions my friend's address
You should be able to give a care of address of your friend. But it still required to update your residency status for tax purposes.