How do I bring my money to USA? and paying off previous debt?

[mika__ 50]

Hi everyone

 

Please forgive me if these are ridiculous questions, however im unsure and I dont have and family I can turn to to ask advice on about this. Im more so curious on what you all did and to share your personal experience so I can get some idea.

Im currently in the middle of doing the CR-1 visa. Me and my husband are just waiting for NVC to get back to us so we can setup the interview part.

Im Canadian living in Canada so when we get approved in the interview (hopefully) and I can finally move to the USA to California (Sanfrancisco), these are some questions im unsure of:

 

1.) How do I transfer all my money and savings to the USA when I move there? We dont have the same banks in the USA (I use RBC) and im just not sure how to go about bringing all my money to the USA. What did you do? share please?

 

3.) My goal is to pay off any remaining debt I have in Canada before I move to the USA, however if I dont get it completly paid off before I move, how do I go about doing that and pay it off gradually while im living in the USA? 
> like can I still pay off my Canadian credit cards online (my only debt is on 2 credit cards) with my new bank account ill have in the USA and it will just convert to Canadian when I pay it online?
can you give me an example how you paid off any remaining debt?

 

 

 

Thanks!
(sorry if these are obvious answers I just dont know exactly how to go about them)
 

Edited April 5, 2019 by mika__
forgot to add something

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

4 minutes ago, mika__ said:

Hi everyone

 

Please forgive me if these are ridiculous questions, however im unsure and I dont have and family I can turn to to ask advice on about this. Im more so curious on what you all did and to share your personal experience so I can get some idea.

Im currently in the middle of doing the CR-1 visa. Me and my husband are just waiting for NVC to get back to us so we can setup the interview part.

Im Canadian living in Canada so when we get approved in the interview (hopefully) and I can finally move to the USA to California (Sanfrancisco), these are some questions im unsure of:

 

1.) How do I transfer all my money and savings to the USA when I move there? We dont have the same banks in the USA (I use RBC) and im just not sure how to go about bringing all my money to the USA. What did you do? share please?

 

3.) My goal is to pay off any remaining debt I have in Canada before I move to the USA, however if I dont get it completly paid off before I move, how do I go about doing that and pay it off gradually while im living in the USA? 
> like can I still pay off my Canadian credit cards online (my only debt is on 2 credit cards) with my new bank account ill have in the USA and it will just convert to Canadian when I pay it online?
can you give me an example how you paid off any remaining debt?

 

 

 

Thanks!
(sorry if these are obvious answers I just dont know exactly how to go about them)
 

1.  Bank to bank wire is most popular way....Can be different banks.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

My husband kept his RBC account open for paying off things and for taxes and then closed it out when everything was paid off. Most things are done online, it shouldn't matter where you are.

He didn't move ALL of his money over though, what he did send over he sent to me through Paypal or brought in cash with him, But there is a limit to how much you can bring over before you need to pay taxes on it and fill out a form.

[pushbrk 12,975]

3 hours ago, Ash.1101 said:

My husband kept his RBC account open for paying off things and for taxes and then closed it out when everything was paid off. Most things are done online, it shouldn't matter where you are.

He didn't move ALL of his money over though, what he did send over he sent to me through Paypal or brought in cash with him, But there is a limit to how much you can bring over before you need to pay taxes on it and fill out a form.

Not aware of paying taxes on more than the $10,000 in cash brought into the US, but one option is to open a US Dollar account in Canada, and just write yourself a check for any additional funds once you've paid the debts and no longer need a Canadian account.

 

[Ash.1101 1,756]

14 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Not aware of paying taxes on more than the $10,000 in cash brought into the US, but one option is to open a US Dollar account in Canada, and just write yourself a check for any additional funds once you've paid the debts and no longer need a Canadian account.

 

I may have misunderstood someone once but I def could be wrong on it!

[carmel34 3,639]

I've personally done this many times (moved back and forth between Canada and the US, paid off student loans, car loans, etc. on both sides of the border).  Just keep your RBC account in Canada open for as long as you need it.  You can even do this with a US address after you move.  Use the RBC account to pay off your Canadian debts, then after you feel you don't need it anymore, close it.  I believe RBC also has bank branches in the US, at least a US-based bank so you could open one of those accounts after you move to the US for easier transfer of funds between the two accounts.  Check out this RBC link for cross-border banking:

 

https://www.rbcbank.com/cross-border/us-bank-accounts.html#new

[bird&bear 43]

As others have stated, you can always keep a bit of money in your Canadian savings accounts. This can be especially handy when/if you go back to visit.

 

For transferring money over (for both the initial move and for paying off debt), as missileman has said, bank to bank wire transfer may be the most straightforward option, depending on your bank. When I moved back to the US from New Zealand last year, I used a service called TransferWise, as they had the best rates I could find at the time (better than my bank). There are other services that do transfers, like CurrencyFair and Curexe, but I haven't used them and so can't vouch for them. I'd check out a few different options, figure out which has the best conversion rate AND transfer fees, and go with whatever is simplest for you.  (Alas, more research!)

[pushbrk 12,975]

4 hours ago, Ash.1101 said:

I may have misunderstood someone once but I def could be wrong on it!

There can be issues with corporations moving foreign profits to the US, but US Citizens, as individuals report and file tax returns based on their worldwide income.  There is no basis to "TAX" a foreigner just for money in their pocket when they cross the border.  The simply track large amounts of cash a person or family traveling together are bringing in.  I brought $15,000 back with me from China once because it was the easiest way to get my niece and nephew's college expenses from their parents to the US at the time.  It was a 30 minute inconvenience but all it cost was time, to fill out a form and answer some questions.

 

They are worried about illegal proceeds, drug money etc.

 

You heard somebody say something about something, but either you misinterpreted it, or they were just wrong.

[Ryan H 3,813]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Moving to the US and Your New Life In America forum.

[Mike E 11,740]

Canada monitors movement of money in excess of $10,000 CAD. The USA monitors movement of money in excess of $10,000 USD. When this money is hand carried across the border (cash, check, money order, bank draft etc), it must be declared to each country’s border force regardless of direction.  

 

Moving the money electronically (either through wire transfers which has higher  fees and can be tedious or simpler methods which have daily limits and cost less) will result in automatic reporting. Do not deliberately move amounts of $10,000 CAD or less to avoid reporting as this is called structuring and is illegal.  

 

I keep a Canadian bank account and it is pretty easy to move money out of it. It isn’t RBC.  

[Wuleii 1]

 Bank wire probably.