March 2012 applicants, join here! : )

[Dr Eng X]

Nope it is not BofA. But we tried that because my mom has BofA and there were some hefty fees. My dad told us it was free so we took out money twice. Yeah, not fee free. Maybe it used to be.

Check with BofA or your bank if they have deals with Canadian banks. I know BofA had a deal with Scotia and I withdrew money myself before without any charges.

 

[canadiangirl78]

They don't. They charge just a regular ATM fee and so does the Canadian bank which isn't too bad but I am not sure how the exchange rate would be. Maybe we should just do it that way. The wire is $40 anyway. But usually the max you can take out is $500 which means you end up paying those fees a few times. I work online and got paid to my american bank even though I told them to mail me a cheque to Canada.

 

[Dr Eng X]

They don't. They charge just a regular ATM fee and so does the Canadian bank which isn't too bad but I am not sure how the exchange rate would be. Maybe we should just do it that way. The wire is $40 anyway. But usually the max you can take out is $500 which means you end up paying those fees a few times. I work online and got paid to my american bank even though I told them to mail me a cheque to Canada.

I do not quiet follow you.
The other option which used to be free is to ask your family in US to send you a money order. Cash the money order here...Some banks and financial institutions will give you money orders for free.
Try also Walmart

 

[blondie1216]

Morning folks
Postman just delivered my COPR Now i know I can book a one way ticket. Good luck to all and hope you all hear something VERY soon. :-*

Congrats! Your journey was quick! Best of luck!

 

[computergeek]

Well when I did the wire before I had to go in person and sign stuff. Hopefully they will let me fax the form? So xe.com will take money from my US bank and put it in my Canadian bank?

Usually the bank will accept a fax, but it does depend upon the bank, certainly.

Yes, xe.com uses electronic clearing in both the US and Canada. They do have a default upper limit ($10,000) as I recall, for outstanding transactions (so one transaction, or multiple smaller transactions) but you can ask them to increase that limit as well. They've worked really well for me, with substantially better rates than I could get from a Bank. Indeed, several years back we were moving $10,000 from a US Bank of America account, and the difference in rate was about $500, although Bank of America was faster because it was a wire transfer.

 

[santoki]

Usually the bank will accept a fax, but it does depend upon the bank, certainly.

Yes, xe.com uses electronic clearing in both the US and Canada. They do have a default upper limit ($10,000) as I recall, for outstanding transactions (so one transaction, or multiple smaller transactions) but you can ask them to increase that limit as well. They've worked really well for me, with substantially better rates than I could get from a Bank. Indeed, several years back we were moving $10,000 from a US Bank of America account, and the difference in rate was about $500, although Bank of America was faster because it was a wire transfer.

How extensive is the paperwork in opening up an XE account? Read in another place that you have to send a copy of driver's license, passport, and recent bank statements. Was that true for you?

 

[computergeek]

How extensive is the paperwork in opening up an XE account? Read in another place that you have to send a copy of driver's license, passport, and recent bank statements. Was that true for you?

Well, it's been just over six years since I opened my account (I paid my Canadian immigration attorney via XE back in early 2006 when I hired him!) I know they required ID (I probably sent my passport) and I also know that governmental regulations against money laundering have been tightened since then, but it should be comparable to opening a new account with a bank. I just looked and it says they need two pieces of ID and "may ask for additional information". Since you'll be establishing rights to transfer OUT of at least one account, you do have to establish you have the right to do so (in the US a void check or bank statement does make sense). I've never had to supply any paperwork for the accounts I transfer into (on the Canadian side). I suppose that may be more hassle if this is a one-time only thing.

 

[santoki]

Well, it's been just over six years since I opened my account (I paid my Canadian immigration attorney via XE back in early 2006 when I hired him!) I know they required ID (I probably sent my passport) and I also know that governmental regulations against money laundering have been tightened since then, but it should be comparable to opening a new account with a bank. I just looked and it says they need two pieces of ID and "may ask for additional information". Since you'll be establishing rights to transfer OUT of at least one account, you do have to establish you have the right to do so (in the US a void check or bank statement does make sense). I've never had to supply any paperwork for the accounts I transfer into (on the Canadian side). I suppose that may be more hassle if this is a one-time only thing.

Ok, I'll look into it further. It's most likely going to be over $10K, so I'd rather distribute it over 2-3 payments to avoid any hassles with having to declare it. Also, I can get a better rate, and $100 saved is better than wasted even if it means putting together some paperwork (which I'm pretty used to at this point). Hopefully there's a bit of a jump in the USD in the next few months, but from what I've read, if anything, it's due for a bit of a dip. I wish we could go back about 10 years to exchange money at those rates...

 

[computergeek]

Ok, I'll look into it further. It's most likely going to be over $10K, so I'd rather distribute it over 2-3 payments to avoid any hassles with having to declare it. Also, I can get a better rate, and $100 saved is better than wasted even if it means putting together some paperwork (which I'm pretty used to at this point). Hopefully there's a bit of a jump in the USD in the next few months, but from what I've read, if anything, it's due for a bit of a dip. I wish we could go back about 10 years to exchange money at those rates...

I find using XE for transactions rather straight-forward.

My suggestion would be to do it in modest sized amounts periodically. Also, if you watch currency rates, you will notice they have cyclic patterns, so you may find that if you do the transaction on Monday mornings, for example, the rate is better. Note that currency trading is a 5.5-day-per-week activity, 24 hours per day, with multiple markets - one reason for the cycles as more markets open means better trading options. XE itself is based out of Victoria, BC, although the company that owns XE (Custom House) was purchased by Western Union a couple of years ago.

What I have found is that XE gives me better rates than I can get from my bank here in Canada. I've cut down on my use of XE lately as I can use HSBC to get comparable rates - but only between countries. A couple of months ago I moved USD from my Canadian HSBC account to my US HSBC account and then did a cross-border currency transfer between my HSBC (USA) and HSBC (Canada) accounts because the rate I obtained doing that was 1.5 cents better than if I just moved from my Canadian HSBC (USD) account to my Canadian HSBC (CAD) account directly.

If you expect to continue banking in the US and Canada, you might wish to check on RBC as well. They also seem to do cross-border accounts quite well from what I've read from others.

Currency exchange is definitely a peculiar business. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_exchange_market

 

[santoki]

I find using XE for transactions rather straight-forward.

My suggestion would be to do it in modest sized amounts periodically. Also, if you watch currency rates, you will notice they have cyclic patterns, so you may find that if you do the transaction on Monday mornings, for example, the rate is better. Note that currency trading is a 5.5-day-per-week activity, 24 hours per day, with multiple markets - one reason for the cycles as more markets open means better trading options. XE itself is based out of Victoria, BC, although the company that owns XE (Custom House) was purchased by Western Union a couple of years ago.

What I have found is that XE gives me better rates than I can get from my bank here in Canada. I've cut down on my use of XE lately as I can use HSBC to get comparable rates - but only between countries. A couple of months ago I moved USD from my Canadian HSBC account to my US HSBC account and then did a cross-border currency transfer between my HSBC (USA) and HSBC (Canada) accounts because the rate I obtained doing that was 1.5 cents better than if I just moved from my Canadian HSBC (USD) account to my Canadian HSBC (CAD) account directly.

If you expect to continue banking in the US and Canada, you might wish to check on RBC as well. They also seem to do cross-border accounts quite well from what I've read from others.

Currency exchange is definitely a peculiar business. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_exchange_market

Once my wife arrives, we won't be doing anymore banking in the US. Still think it's worth it to set up the XE account for 2-3 transactions or just take my chances on the bank rate?

 

[parker24]

Once my wife arrives, we won't be doing anymore banking in the US. Still think it's worth it to set up the XE account for 2-3 transactions or just take my chances on the bank rate?

See. My husband and I decided to keep his bank account open in the US because we still have to file taxes and it would just be easier to do US dollars if we owed them money (or they feel nice enough to give us some ) Just my two cents (That's all I really know about, I don't know anything about XE haha)

 

[computergeek]

Once my wife arrives, we won't be doing anymore banking in the US. Still think it's worth it to set up the XE account for 2-3 transactions or just take my chances on the bank rate?

That's a subjective determination on your part. I found the bank rate to be more than $300 less than the XE rate on a $10,000 exchange. Perhaps that is not worth the hassle of setting up an exchange account to you. My suggestion: ask for a quotation from your bank and check XE at the same time. XE will show you the mid-market rate (that is the rate between the buy and sell price) and compare it to the bank rate. The difference is the "spread". This is how the bank makes a profit on a currency exchange transaction.

When I bought my condo here in Vancouver, I actually worked with a local Customs House agent to do a one-off transaction. They offered me a slightly better rate than I could get with XE, even considering I had to pay wire transfer fees. But it was almost $1,000 less than the bank was willing to offer me for the exchange.

 

[santoki]

For those with applications in the US, has anyone here been looking into moving companies? Any suggestions or recommendations? My one worry is that because we don't know when approval will come through, we'll have a hard time finding a reputable company because of the lack of notice given.

 

[ccunnington]

Hey everyone. Quick question. We sent in our application without the medical, as at the time, we were told not to until we received instructions from the visa office. I've since found out that information wasn't accurate, however it hasn't affected our application so far, as we've been approved for stage 1. We're thinking of getting the medical done next week...should we proceed with this or wait until we hear from the Visa office? My thoughts are that if we get it done now, by the time a visa officer opens the app in Bogota, they will have all the required info. Thoughts?

 

[in_can]

Hey Marchers,

I have a good news to share...

Just checked my file and here is what it says...

We received your application for permanent residence on March 20, 2012.
We started processing your application on August 30, 2012.
Medical results have been received.
A decision has been made on your application. The office will contact you concerning this decision.
Wife's current home address is shown Brampton, ON....

Sent edited emails, phone logs, bunch of pictures from engagement to marriage to Honeymoon. Everything went smooth.