American Banking

[redBlue 1]

Basically, my situation is this, I want to move a large-ish sum of money down the United States into an American bank account prior to filing for the K1 Visa. Is this going to send up any red flags about me when I do file? And how do you get an American bank account anyway as I always thought they required an SSN in order to give you one. Though some sources say you can argue with them over that, I really don't want to spend a whole lot of energy having fits with banks across the border. Thanks for any insight.

How did everyone else bring their money down to the US when they moved? Were there any hassles when you did it?

I'm in the same situation and after lots of search and reading,I've decided to transfer the money to my husband's account.I will be using Customhouse for the transfer.

If I wanna open up another account,I will do so after getting there..

That's the best option for me

Good luck

[CDAgirlMI 51]

Bank of America let me open an account even before we started the K1 process. All I needed was my Canadian DL & Passport.

I brought over some money(in the form of a money order) when I moved here. I declared it to the customs official. No taxes or duty was paid.

Like everyone mentioned, they just want you to disclose you have over $10,000 because of terrorism/money laundering.

Maybe someone on here can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you bring money over (just say after you move...if you happened to sell a house/car after you left Canada), it's not considered income, therefore not taxed on the money??

[biglos 0]

I opened an account at Wells fargo with no problem, without an SSN, you should have no problems...just bring ID, passport and drivers license.

[ashenflowers 5]

Sorry if I hijack this thread, but I'm just wondering, from everyone's experience which is 'better'. Bank of America, or Chase? I don't have a lot of money, so fees would be best if they are low. lol But I'm also wondering about service and that sort of thing. I have both of them within a block of my house. I just can't decide which one to go with.

[Kimbear 53]

For me i chose bank of america as they have a "secured credit card" that will help me build my credit a bit easier and faster. From what i've been told they report your payments etc to the credit companies unlike some other secured cards. Chase i'd rather not go with David has them for a loan and has had some issues. Just like Charter one, they are terrible for fees and stuff. one overdraft charge was 117$..ouch! i miss good old cdn banks. my td charged me 5$. LOL

best thign to do is go to both websites check out requirements for an account like min balance, and record keeping fees etc and interest rates and decide from their. Bank of america's online system seems easier to use as well wheni browsed it.

[SapphireDreams 71]

Sorry if I hijack this thread, but I'm just wondering, from everyone's experience which is 'better'. Bank of America, or Chase? I don't have a lot of money, so fees would be best if they are low. lol But I'm also wondering about service and that sort of thing. I have both of them within a block of my house. I just can't decide which one to go with.

I bank with Chase and I love them. Their checking acount is free if you use your debit card at least 5x/month or if you have direct deposit (once you have a job). I figured that with groceries and just everyday living I would for sure use it at least 5x. There are also a TON of Chase ATMs where I work/live so it just made sense to go with Chase.

It made me laugh because it was like the opposite of TD, the more you use it, the more you pay in fees!

US Banking is soooo much better than Canadian.

[Kimbear 53]

One thing i noticed with BoA...they are allied with scotiabank in canada.. so if you go visit and use a scotia atm it's free.

[Pauley 2]

One thing i noticed with BoA...they are allied with scotiabank in canada.. so if you go visit and use a scotia atm it's free.

As an American with a Bank of America account, visiting the wife in Toronto very regularly, I often use this to my advantage.

I don't know anyone with a Scotiabank account, but it supposedly works both ways, and with banks in up to a half-dozen other countries, too -- Scotiabank's site has the details and names of banks, as does Bank of America's.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Pauley

[ashenflowers 5]

Wow! Thanks for that info. I already have a Scotia account in Canada, so that might've sealed the deal for me right there. lol I would've gone with either one, but this alliance might work to my advantage.

...

now I feel like I'm playing a video game. Defense: +1 !

Sapphire, you made Chase sound good too, but BoA wins. lol

[SapphireDreams 71]

Wow! Thanks for that info. I already have a Scotia account in Canada, so that might've sealed the deal for me right there. lol I would've gone with either one, but this alliance might work to my advantage.

...

now I feel like I'm playing a video game. Defense: +1 !

Sapphire, you made Chase sound good too, but BoA wins. lol

Yeah that link is pretty sweet if you have Scotiabank. I bet BofA has a free checking account too. Seems to be the norm in the US.

[Pauley 2]

I bet BofA has a free checking account too. Seems to be the norm in the US.

They do, but reports are that they may not much longer. The federal government has enacted new rules regarding overdraft fees, in that a banking customer has to be notified with each transaction that they're about to be charged an overdraft if they proceed without enough money in their account to cover the amount. Since banks don't have a way to do that at point of sale when you try to use your debit card, instead they plan to now decline the transaction.

The reason this is relevant to free checking is that many banks in the US started allowing overdrafts with fees to make up for lost income when they started giving away free checking to compete with other banks. Since the fees won't be legal anymore, say some analysts, the free checking they pay for may also go away.

(Source: AP this morning, via Fox News)

Edited March 10, 2010 by Pauley

[Kimbear 53]

Yeah that link is pretty sweet if you have Scotiabank. I bet BofA has a free checking account too. Seems to be the norm in the US.

they do if you have direct deposit or keep a min amount. and you get to choose what yoru visa debit card looks like.

Correct Pauley. However i would much rather that then get nailed with multiple charges. Makes good sense to me. i just read over the toa on bofa site today actually. most of it seems reasonable. and i like the scotia thing too.

i only dealt with scotia for my mortgage, but they were always very helpful and nice to me.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Kimbear

[Pauley 2]

they do if you have direct deposit or keep a min amount. and you get to choose what yoru visa debit card looks like.

Correct Pauley. However i would much rather that then get nailed with multiple charges. Makes good sense to me. i just read over the toa on bofa site today actually. most of it seems reasonable. and i like the scotia thing too.

i only dealt with scotia for my mortgage, but they were always very helpful and nice to me.

Oh, I agree. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be told no, I can't buy something than find out later I got charged an overdraft fee ("Ugh... that burger and fries just cost $46...").

The thing is, since banks won't have that as a source of income anymore, one thing to keep an eye on is that the free-with-direct-deposit checking accounts may stop being free unless there's a minimum amount in the account. In fairness to the bank, that part is entirely supposition, and neither hinted at nor announced by banks at this time. It's just something to keep an eye out for in future announcements.

[ashenflowers 5]

Meh. I'm used to being raped for $10/month for my account in Canada, so that wouldn't be anything new. I could probably change my account type at this point, since I'm hardly using it anymore, but ah well. I certainly won't meet any minimum amount or direct deposit at this point, so we'll see what the fees come to be.

Oh, amusingly enough too, today I received something in the mail from Chase, saying they're giving people $100 just for opening a new checking account. That's it. I read the fine print. I'm not seeing a catch. Now I'm debating them again. I could SERIOUSLY use $100. lol

hmm..

Do you think it'd be worth it to take it to BoA and see if they'll match it? Cause really, the BoA advantage with scotia isn't really relevant until I get AP and can travel out of the US again. hmm...

[zenaxe 22]

if you have an RBC accoutn yes your lucky you can do that. for me i'd have to get an irs tax number first before chase or bank of america would let me have an account let alone a joint one with David, as there are no TD banks in illinois and the us versions are not associated at all with the CDN ones.

*gah! bad spelling

My wife was already set up with Wells Fargo and it was no problem for me to get a joint account with her. I just needed my Canadian ID etc.