Opening a bank account in Canada

[Love_Young]

I opened a joint savings account with my husband at RBC with just my US passport and US driver's license. That was back in January while waiting for another extension. It was definitely one of the easier and nicer banks we went to.

In April, I exchanged my US drivers license for a Newfoundland one. With that and a new visitor record and passport, I was able to join my hubby's account at Scotiabank. We had tried Scotiabank previously but they wouldn't accept just my passport and US license. I needed a provincial document, immigration document (my extension), and passport. Our Scotiabank seemed to be pretty strict on their rules.

My hubby also was approved for a Capital One credit card and added me as an authorized user and was also recently approved for a credit card with PC Financial. I haven't been added as an authorized user to that yet but that is because I keep forgetting to mail off the letter for it. Also hubby hasn't established enough credit yet but was still approved for those so if anyone is having a hard time getting accepted, I would definitely check those out.

 

[MandiF]

You can open a Canadian HSBC account even in the local HSBC branch in UK. The money transfer between your HSBC accounts in UK and Canada is reported by the bank and you don't have to report again to the canada revenue agency. If you have Premier account, you can transfer the money instantly and free.

Yes you can do this, as long as you have over £10,000 in it.

 

[Riyko]

I recently opened up a bank account at RBC (on Nov 12th) with just a US passport and my US Drivers License. What I like about RBC is they give you a credit card if you're a newcomer or if you're a student

 

[muddy]

You can open a non-interest bearing account without the SIN number. This is preferred as they don't pay any worthwhile interest
anyway and without the SIN number the government will not be able to pry into your account. It's the best IMO and the only
type of accounts I use.

can you recommend a bank or credit union?

Regards

 

[JAMO1973]

Does anyone have experience transferring money from their bank in their home country to a bank in Canada?