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[JERiv]

Hi Folks!!

So I am based out of NYC. I have landed but my PR Card photos got rejected twice!!

Any suggestions on where to get those clicked in Northern Nj or New York City?

Thanks

Have you had them done at a place that specializes in Canadian Passport/Immigration pictures? You should be able to look up in yelp, or any other search website, for places that specialize in them. I would think that NY has to have quite a few of them. They'll likely charge a bit more, but they usually know what they're doing.

i.e. https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Canadian+Passport+Photos&find_loc=New+York,+NY

We did ours in such a place here in Austin (there was only one that specifically stated that they did them, actually), and all of them were accepted. They were more expensive than random photography places ($25 / person), but definitely worth it if only for peace of mind.

 

[lampbreaker]

Does that include xray and lab work? At those prices, you might want to consider doing your medical exam in Canada if: 1) you have any travel planned in the near future, or 2) if you live close to the border. We did ours during a family trip and it was around $250-350 USD per person total.

CAVEAT: If anyone does go with doing them in Canada, be sure to plan and schedule it well, and to double-check everything! We had to scramble to get a appointments at the last minute because everyone was booked even a week or two in advance. Also, the doctor we saw was curious about our not living in Canada yet, since if they required any follow ups we might have needed to go back to Canada to get them done. So admittedly, it was a bit risky in that sense, but the cost savings were crazy.

Lab work and x-ray work was a breeze. I was impressed by their efficiency, professionalism, and how calm folks were in general. It gave me a fairly positive perspective on the Canadian healthcare system compared to how things work here in the US.

I am thinking of doing this in Canada, somewhere in the Toronto area. Which doctor did you visit (if in Toronto area)?

 

[moose17]

@pryda31, depending on your travel situation, could you wait and get them done up in Canada next time you're there? Our photos are likely to be rejected and I'm planning to just drag us to Costco, the fave for that around here, and get them redone if needed. I'm not even applying for them until at least next month and then we should be moved by the time we get any notifications about the photos not working. For local options, hopefully it's better in NYC but even in the Midwest I had a local option that did Canada-specific photos but at $60 each! I guess for one person that could be worth it but for a family of 3 that was a big no. I did notice that our local JC Penny photo studio had some good coupons that made it a probably reasonable option so you could look into that too.

We're feeling fairly down to the wire here. Our "apartment or bust" trip is in just a month and we're planning for the possibility of moving soon after it so are really working to get stuff donated or sold and are working on the bigger picture things too. Along those lines - does anyone have any idea how things like wills work cross-border? We really need to set up documents outlining what to do if my husband and I pass away and leave our daughter but I don't know if a will made here (which would probably be cheaper) would apply in Canada. I was also sad to see that we can't use the college savings plans in either country without creating tax issues so we'll have to figure out something else for that at some point.

 

[canada_eagle]

Guys I am planning to do soft landing soon from US soon.

I have couple of questions:

1) What should be the classification type in goods to follow form if we are soft landing?
2) Where should we list the car if it is goods to follow? Should it be under description of goods or conveyance section?

Also is it okay to write the total in pen after typing out every item?

I did not actually fill out the bsf186 form. I passed the customs officer my list and he prepared the form. I had cars on top of the list and pointed it out to him.

I don't see a problem writing with pen. The customs officer padded my figure just to be safe in the actual form.

 

[JERiv]

I am thinking of doing this in Canada, somewhere in the Toronto area. Which doctor did you visit (if in Toronto area)?

We ended up doing ours in Calgary. We had tried a week earlier in Vancouver, but all of the clinics/doctors that did them were booked until after we left. Except for one dude whose staff did not inspire any confidence, and whose reviews online (we looked him up after we had called to see if they had openings) inspired actual dread.

The doctor we saw in Calgary was very nice, though!

 

[JERiv]

@pryda31 Along those lines - does anyone have any idea how things like wills work cross-border? We really need to set up documents outlining what to do if my husband and I pass away and leave our daughter but I don't know if a will made here (which would probably be cheaper) would apply in Canada.

Shoot... Still, you'd think with all the treaties and whatnot they wills would at least have some legitimacy in both countries.

@pryda31 AI was also sad to see that we can't use the college savings plans in either country without creating tax issues so we'll have to figure out something else for that at some point.

Double shoot.... I thought you could still use some 529 savings for education related expenses?

http://www.savingforcollege.com/questions-answers/article.php?article_id=58

For once, I guess I should be happy we didn't put too much in there for our daughters!


Also, good luck on your apartment or bust trip!

 

[moose17]

Shoot... Still, you'd think with all the treaties and whatnot they wills would at least have some legitimacy in both countries.



Double shoot.... I thought you could still use some 529 savings for education related expenses?

http://www.savingforcollege.com/questions-answers/article.php?article_id=58

For once, I guess I should be happy we didn't put too much in there for our daughters!


Also, good luck on your apartment or bust trip!

I would think the will would be okay . . . the biggest issue for us is just making sure the people we want would take over her care. It's just been hard to find much info on it searching google. I would have thought with how many cross-border families there are there'd be more written about it - or maybe it really is a non-issue.

The 529 money can be used at a lot of Canadian universities, but Canada doesn't recognize it as tax-exempt (or something like that: http://mcacrossborder.com/blog/us-citizens-529-plans-living-canada/), nor does the US recognize the Canadian 529 equivalent (RESP, which has nice grants that get added each year if you contribute a certain amount) as such either. Thankfully 401ks and the Canadian equivalent are recognized as non-taxable (again, or whatever it's called) by each country but, like with the education investment accounts, that's not the case for IRAs and the Canadian equivalent. Right now besides our 401k we just have a very small 529 for our daughter so we'll let it sit until we talk to someone who does cross-border taxes, but we'll probably either withdraw the money or transfer ownership to my in-laws, unless we're advised that it's no worse than using a general investment account for the purpose. For the 401k, we're hoping/planning to leave it alone here, though we'll probably finally choose some lower-fee options within it first like we should have a while ago.

Thanks for the AOB trip well-wishes! We'll need all the luck we can get!

 

[JERiv]

Thankfully 401ks and the Canadian equivalent are recognized as non-taxable (again, or whatever it's called) by each country but, like with the education investment accounts, that's not the case for IRAs and the Canadian equivalent.

My reaction: -> (frantically does some google searches) -> -> (with sad tear falling down)

Oh well. We'll need to figure that one out. We'd probably leave it alone, if able. Fun!!! (...just shoot me now...)

 

[sai.exentry]

Hi Vaibhav

Please send a request to my FB account with the name Vineel Sai Mahankali need to discuss the process with you

 

[moose17]

My reaction: -> (frantically does some google searches) -> -> (with sad tear falling down)

Oh well. We'll need to figure that one out. We'd probably leave it alone, if able. Fun!!! (...just shoot me now...)

Yeah thankfully no IRAs here but I was still starting to question if we'd even come out ahead in the long run! Then I remembered that our health insurance deductible is over 6k now so HA nope happy to deal with whatever (that certainly helps with our timeline possibly shifting back to early March too).

When I looked up cross-border professionals (tax people, lawyers, etc.) there were lots of options so I expect both of us will end up consulting with one at some point who can give us some direction. This document may be of some help to you, too: https://www.sunnet.sunlife.com/files/advisor/english/PDF/IRA_401k_to_RRSP.pdf

 

[pryda31]

Have you had them done at a place that specializes in Canadian Passport/Immigration pictures? You should be able to look up in yelp, or any other search website, for places that specialize in them. I would think that NY has to have quite a few of them. They'll likely charge a bit more, but they usually know what they're doing.

i.e. https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Canadian+Passport+Photos&find_loc=New+York,+NY

We did ours in such a place here in Austin (there was only one that specifically stated that they did them, actually), and all of them were accepted. They were more expensive than random photography places ($25 / person), but definitely worth it if only for peace of mind.

Thanks!! I am not sure why I never thought of doing that!! But I agree and yes I would pay a little extra for the peace of mind.

Cheers!
-P

 

[dt12]

Hi, What do you guys do for proof of funds? I don't have any account with >20k balance but my spouse and I have around 8-10 individual accounts and they add up to >$25k balance. What is the best way to show them?
I plan to make a spreadsheet showing each account balance for each month starting in June then attach the downloaded statements from online banking websites. Is that ok? Also I heard that I need to prove that I can access money in my spouse's account. How can I do that? Thank you.

 

[pratee1234]

Hi, has anyone entered Canada after receiving the COPR for the first time (soft landing) while driving from Seattle to Vancouver? If so, how was that experience?

 

[lampbreaker]

You will need letters from each bank.

 

[Mrs. Kow]

Do you have the excel template that a lot of people use? If not, DM me your email and I'll forward it to you. I'll take out my personal info & serial numbers, etc., but you can see how it's laid out. I (and many others) have landed using it with no issues.

Would you mind sending me a copy of the spreadsheet template as well? We just submitted our PR application and are optimistically starting to get ready to move.