Best way to transfer funds/credit history from USA to Canada

[fswcanada2014]

Hi everyone,

We are planning to immigrate to Canada as Permanent Residents in November 2014 from USA. I am looking for best option to transfer funds to Canada. I am having bank accounts with Chase and Capital One in USA, and I don't think both of them have branches in Canada! I was thinking to open account with TD USA but they don't have any branch in Arizona! Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

And, is it possible to transfer our Credit History from USA to Canada? We have really good credit history in USA and don't want to start from scratch in Canada!

Thanks, and best wishes to everyone for their future endeavors.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Hi everyone,

We are planning to immigrate to Canada as Permanent Residents in November 2014 from USA. I am looking for best option to transfer funds to Canada. I am having bank accounts with Chase and Capital One in USA, and I don't think both of them have branches in Canada! I was thinking to open account with TD USA but they don't have any branch in Arizona! Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

And, is it possible to transfer our Credit History from USA to Canada? We have really good credit history in USA and don't want to start from scratch in Canada!

Thanks, and best wishes to everyone for their future endeavors.

Just an FYI, TD in the US is NOT the same as TD in Canada. As far as i know being a customer of one doesn't make you a customer of the other. When my husband visits the US, he can't go to a TD Bank here as a customer. They have told him the banks are different, they are not one in the same even though they are the same company. Also, I don't think it's possible to open a canadian bank account until you are a legal resident of canada. I don't think you will be able to open an account long distance, most banks require you to be physically present. I know there is an online canadian bank that may allow foreigners to open an account. The website is tangerine.ca It looks similar to the old ING Direct/ now Capital One 360 online bank accounts.

I don't belive you will be able to transfer money before you get there. You will have to do a bank to bank wire transfer for large amounts once you open an account. For smaller amounts, you can use ATM machines at any bank in Canada. For BOA, the fees associated with this are less than going to a currency exchange. You can always ask your bank to increase your limit on ATM withdrawls so you can take out more money each time.

As for transferring credit, nope not possible. Canada and USA use different credit reporting bureaus, and they do not cross over. Basically, when you move to canada you have to start from scratch with no credit. Many banks have packages for newcomers, and will give you a low limit credit card to help you build your credit.

 

[Alurra71]

Hi everyone,

We are planning to immigrate to Canada as Permanent Residents in November 2014 from USA. I am looking for best option to transfer funds to Canada. I am having bank accounts with Chase and Capital One in USA, and I don't think both of them have branches in Canada! I was thinking to open account with TD USA but they don't have any branch in Arizona! Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

And, is it possible to transfer our Credit History from USA to Canada? We have really good credit history in USA and don't want to start from scratch in Canada!

Thanks, and best wishes to everyone for their future endeavors.

You can actually transfer some of your credit to Canada, but not in the sense you are thinking. Check your credit card companies, first and foremost. A majority of them have branches all over the world and will be happy to 'close' your US account and open a Canadian account for you. Rhcohen is correct in that most banks here have a 'newcomer' package. Obtaining credit is a much simpler act here in Canada than it is in the States. Anyway, just check your current credit companies to see about moving your accounts to a new country. I know I was able to do with this with my 'Amazon' Chase account and my Capital One card. Those are the only ones that I chose to move here but long before I did that, I was able to obtain a credit card with my bank without even having a job yet. Yep, much simpler here! LOL

 

[steaky]

I don't belive you will be able to transfer money before you get there.

But at least in HSBC, you will be able to open a Canadian bank account and transfer money before you get there. There are HSBC branches in both USA and Canada.

 

[fswcanada2014]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Just got confirmation from American Express that they can move my credit line from USA to Canada.

Till now, I am still not clear on how to move funds from USA to Canada! We will be selling our home in USA so it would be much more than 10,000$ (limit for carrying cash).

I will probably explore options suggested by all of you!

Thanks again

 

[Alurra71]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Just got confirmation from American Express that they can move my credit line from USA to Canada.

Till now, I am still not clear on how to move funds from USA to Canada! We will be selling our home in USA so it would be much more than 10,000$ (limit for carrying cash).

I will probably explore options suggested by all of you!

Thanks again

10000 is NOT the limit for carrying cash. It is ONLY the limit you can carry without claiming it. If you wish to carry 1000000000 you can (I don't suggest it personally) as long as you claim it at the border when you arrive. There are no fees or anything associated with it. They only need you to state you have x dollars with you on the declaration card.

 

[polara69]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Just got confirmation from American Express that they can move my credit line from USA to Canada.

Till now, I am still not clear on how to move funds from USA to Canada! We will be selling our home in USA so it would be much more than 10,000$ (limit for carrying cash).

I will probably explore options suggested by all of you!

Thanks again

Once your house sold, got to the bank, get a check, come to Canada, put check in Canadian account, done!

 

[fswcanada2014]

Thanks everyone for your valuable advice!

 

[swisscheese]

The best way to transfer money quickly is using a wire transfer from your US account to your Canadian account once your Canadian account is set up. The fees are reasonable. I did a wire transfer from BOA to TD Canada Trust and it cost me around $40. My wife did one from TD Ameritrade brokerage to TD Canada Trust and it cost her only $10, if I recall. You can consolidate all your US funds in one account through ETF transfers before you wire money to Canada to avoid multiple wires.

With TD, if you exchange for an amount above $60K in one trade you can get a much better deal on the exchange rate. Ask your banker or broker on how to set this up.