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moving money

CeeGee

Star Member
Jan 31, 2010
89
9
My wife in the US already sold her house---it was a bit unexpected, as it sold the first weekend she had it on the market. To make it simpler to access her money, should she wire some or all of it to my(soon to be"joint "account ) to make access easier for us while the PR process is unfolding. Or should she keep it in her US bank to prove she has ties in the US---even though that will make accessing the funds more difficult ? Anyone else had this problem? how did you access your US funds when you were in Canada without facing problems and fees?
 

racoon

Star Member
Feb 8, 2010
81
2
Visa Office......
Vagerville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Hello,
well basically you can do whatever you want with the money, as they are not looking for proof that she will return to the US when assessing your PR application.
About wiring money: it can be a bit expensive to wire money and each bank has their own rate, so shop around before doing so as you can potentially save couple thousand dollars (which is nice =)). Look at the percentage they will take as well as the exchange rate! Many people forget that USD and CAD are different currencies and don't pay attention to the exchange rate, big mistake =))

What I am personally doing right now (since i don't know if I will get my PR or what generally will happen next in my life) is the following: I have an account in Russia, and a visa card attached to it, however I don't use my visa as a credit card (as I have money on it ) instead I use it as pretty much a debit, this way, I don't pay anything for taking money from my Russian account, when I buy something using my visa (plus visa exchange rate for CAD/USD is always one of the best, so I don;t loose money that way either). It has to be noted that if you do the same thing, but with a debit, you are still paying transaction fees, plus you are attached to a poopy exchange rate. Another thing is, that when I am taking cash from my visa, I do pay the transaction fee (which will anyway be the case with a foreign debit), thus taking cash should be avoided if possible (poopy rates again). But you can pay with visa everywhere anyway these days, so has not been a problem for me so far.

Wow this was long, but when it is a big sum of money we are talking about, bad transactions can cost you thousands of dollars, so think it through, and shop around =)) And transfer cash only when you are ready to do so, meaning all the paper work is sorted out, as none of us is a fortune teller (unfortunately) =))

Hope this complicated answer helps, Russian Money Loving Raccoon =))
 

CeeGee

Star Member
Jan 31, 2010
89
9
thanks Racoon, that is very good advice, I had never thought of that way of accessing your money. thanks again
 

racoon

Star Member
Feb 8, 2010
81
2
Visa Office......
Vagerville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Oh we Russians know ways =)) haha
 

sogwap

Hero Member
Feb 18, 2010
200
6
124
Indiana
Category........
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Last year I moved from USA to Canada. Several weeks arrived I received a check from the US for over $10K and proceeded to open and deposit it in a local Canadian bank.

The TD Canada bank here held the money for 45 days, to insure that there was no problem with the funds. When I first heard 45 days, I thought they meant it could be held for up to 45 days while the transfered cleared. But instead the hold was literally 45 days from the date of deposit.

Also, when you enter Canada customs they ask if you are carrying over $10K cash. This is a red flag to them. To avoid that you can have the money in US, Canada or other bank and transfer it electronically.

Ironically, I have a Visa card in a US bank with US funds. Unless the business in Canada that I am dealing with does not accept Visa I have had no problems using my US Visa card here in Canada! The exchange rate does apply as does a small transaction fee.
 

CeeGee

Star Member
Jan 31, 2010
89
9
Thanks, sounds like a visa card connected to a US bank account works best, you just have to be careful to watch the fees, thanks
 

javcil

Star Member
Mar 18, 2010
101
4
Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Ankara
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
16/01/2010
AOR Received.
01/03/2010
File Transfer...
04/02/2010
Med's Done....
11/12/2009
Interview........
21/04/2010
Passport Req..
21/04/2010
VISA ISSUED...
22/04/2010
LANDED..........
16/07/2010
You could also deposit money into a bank located in your home country AND Canada. I have an account set up at HSBC that allows me to deposit CAD, USD and Turkish Lira into it. I can use this account in either country. I'm not sure if there is an HSBC in your country, but they seem to be almost everywhere.