US Credit Cards Debts and just got my PR and moving to Canada. Help!!!

[tocanadato]

I am going to ask a question that might not have anything to do with this forum. Please, help someone who can help.
I live in the US but I am not an American. I am current out of status and I just got my Canadian PR approved and I should shortly move to Canada to live. However, I have some credit cards debts here ($ 15,000.00) and I do not think I can afford paying them. Do you think that if I move to Canada, will these credit cards companies come after me?

Thank you.

 

[roopa82]

i dont think so they r going to leave you....u have to pay....

 

[hao8165]

If you leave the country, the collection agencies may not go after you... but 15,000 isn't a small amount for credit card debt, and it may create some problems in future. Nobody knows what will happen in future. Canada and the US are so close to each other, and you may need to return to US for business, work or pleasure. At that time, the creditors may create some problems for you.

Anyway, despite the future "problems," it's your responsibility, both financially and morally, to pay back your debt.

 

[sk.aggarwal]

I would say look for an attorney and declare bankruptcy. That way you and your property will be protected.

 

[tocanadato]

It is $ 15,000.00 but not for only one card. The highest one is $ 4,000.00 and the rest is about $ 1,400.00 each.

Thanks.

 

[Leon]

It's your moral obligation to pay back the money you borrowed but in all honesty, it is unlikely that they will come after you and it is unlikely that it will affect your credit in Canada.

 

[explorer101]

I am going to ask a question that might not have anything to do with this forum. Please, help someone who can help.
I live in the US but I am not an American. I am current out of status and I just got my Canadian PR approved and I should shortly move to Canada to live. However, I have some credit cards debts here ($ 15,000.00) and I do not think I can afford paying them. Do you think that if I move to Canada, will these credit cards companies come after me?

Thank you.

I dont think you cant afford to payback. You must be having settlement funds also, which you showed at the time of making application for PR. You used the money and must payback also.

 

[jes_ON]

Legally, the credit card companies can come after you, but are unlikely to do so for those amounts. If you simply stop paying, tho, those amounts will increase rapidly and dramatically.

If you think you cannot pay, it would not hurt to talk to a credit counselor. But the reality is, you will need to build a new credit history in Canada anyway - good or bad, your credit does not seem to follow.

So you may want to consider filing for bankruptcy in the US. Since you are leaving the US, the consequences will be minimal, and if you ever decide to return to the US, you will be in a much better position.

If you decide to file bankruptcy, you should so it BEFORE you establish residency in Canada - legal eligibility to file bankruptcy in the US is murky for non-US residents (this is true of US citizens living overseas, too), and difficult to find someone to take on your case.

Not sure what your PR status is, if you are required to show proof of funds on landing, but that would definitely complicate things...

 

[Qaxlor]

I'm curious how you get in with unpaid debts in that amount, do they not check that your so-called "liquid" settlement funds are not offset by a huge credit card bill in the US? Seems like it would be easy enough, especially in the case of the US, for them to run a credit check on you and ask pointedly for you to prove you have money in excess of what you owe in the states. I would hope Canada doesn't want deadbeats immigrating. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[jes_ON]

It would be easy to run a credit check for the US, but they don't. This allows banks to gouge all newcomers (even those with excellent credit). Nonetheless, given the evidence required to show for POF, it is difficult (not impossible) to hide debt.

There are plenty of ways to be a deadbeat, plenty of immigrant deadbeats, bankruptcy in the US is the least of Canada's worries. If the immigrant arrives with a clean slate and lessons learned about how NOT to use credit, all the better for Canada.

By the way, usury is immoral too, but quite legal in the US and Canada. If you haven't been paying attention, the immorality of lenders caused a global financial crisis.

OP could have been foolish using credit to buy "discretionary" goods like clothes and TVs, or could have been (trying) to pay for nondiscretionary items like medical bills, legal bills, heating bills, helping family. No way to know, no need to judge as a "deadbeat." Happens to good people every day in the US and Canada.

 

[mistzone]

File Bankruptcy, it will be more easy if you are currently unemployed!!! catch a lawyer. This will protect your credit history and bank & you may agree a amt to pay if possible, I've seen many asians do that, lawyer can give a proper path...

I am going to ask a question that might not have anything to do with this forum. Please, help someone who can help.
I live in the US but I am not an American. I am current out of status and I just got my Canadian PR approved and I should shortly move to Canada to live. However, I have some credit cards debts here ($ 15,000.00) and I do not think I can afford paying them. Do you think that if I move to Canada, will these credit cards companies come after me?

Thank you.