EI questions

[onesassygirl 0]

Hi y'all,

Just a few concerns regarding EI:

1.) How soon do you start receiving EI benefits after sending all the necessary documents?

2.) How do they send you the check/money? (i.e. in CDN or US funds? can they electronically deposit the money into a US account? etc.)

3.) My EI application was in my maiden name. Assuming that they send me a check in US funds, I am assuming it will be made out to my maiden name, but my bank info here is in my married name. Can I request that my checks be made out to my married name?

Any input will be highly appreciated! I'm still a little in the dark about what happens after submitting my EI application (and I can't access the archived EI thread to read all about it!).

All I've received so far after submitting my application online is a questionnaire from them asking for information regarding my citizenship and whether or not I have a US work visa. They are not asking for copies of my I-94 or K1 Visa, and I do not have my EAD yet. I am sending back the questionnaire with my ROE. Should I also send in copies of my I-94 and K1 as well since it looks like that's what VJers have done in the past?

And regarding the maiden/married name thing, should I submit a copy of my marriage certificate as proof of the name change?

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8 Lots of info on there

you get paid by a cheque in Cdn funds!!!

There is at least a 2 week waiting period, plus depends on how much severence $$ u received from last job!!

[onesassygirl 0]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8 Lots of info on there

you get paid by a cheque in Cdn funds!!!

There is at least a 2 week waiting period, plus depends on how much severence $$ u received from last job!!

Yeah, I've skimmed that... it didn't clarify some of the other questions I had though!

Thanks for the info.

[onesassygirl 0]

Can we cash cheques in Cdn funds into US bank accounts?

[Flames9_RN 358]

All depends on ur bank. I'm sure all USA banks can, BUT some wil charge fees, some will give poor exchange rates. Watch out for those fees. At first wachovia wanted to charge me a $75.00 fee!! bank manager fixed that. I found they gave me a fair exchange rate with no fees. What I ended up doing was keeping open a Cdn acct. I would then mail the cheque to my folks, who had my bank card and deposited the money into the Cdn acct. THEN I would use https://vantage.customhouse.com/cgi-bin/Login.cgi to transfer the $$ from my Cdn account to the USA bank account. Takes a bit to sign up for vantage, also known as Custom House. Tehy do a phone inter view and you have to either mail, fax or scan and email (through a secure sever) your ID and bank acct info. Its easy to do though. Cheers

[Waiting in Vancouver 6]

1.) How soon do you start receiving EI benefits after sending all the necessary documents?

It all depends on if you had holiday pay out or serverence pay at the end of your last job. It took me about 7 weeks I think it was to get my first check and I had about 5 weeks where I didn't get any benefits because of holiday pay (1 week), serverence pay (3 weeks) and 1 week where I told them I wasn't available because we were on our honeymoon (which I think I shouldn't have been docked because they got me with the 1 week holiday pay) ...

2.) How do they send you the check/money? (i.e. in CDN or US funds? can they electronically deposit the money into a US account? etc.)

They send your checks in canadian funds and it takes about a week from the date they sent it to get to you. And they can not deposit the money into your US account I asked the exact question. Our bank here has to send my checks to another bank to cash it so we get dinged a little processing fee ...

3.) My EI application was in my maiden name. Assuming that they send me a check in US funds, I am assuming it will be made out to my maiden name, but my bank info here is in my married name. Can I request that my checks be made out to my married name?

I don't have any experience or advice regarding this ... sorry

Any input will be highly appreciated! I'm still a little in the dark about what happens after submitting my EI application (and I can't access the archived EI thread to read all about it!).

They contacted me by phone about 5 weeks after I submitted asking a few questions then they started my claim ...

All I've received so far after submitting my application online is a questionnaire from them asking for information regarding my citizenship and whether or not I have a US work visa. They are not asking for copies of my I-94 or K1 Visa, and I do not have my EAD yet. I am sending back the questionnaire with my ROE. Should I also send in copies of my I-94 and K1 as well since it looks like that's what VJers have done in the past?

I enclosed a photocopy of my I-94 and K-1 visa when I sent back the questionnaire ...

And regarding the maiden/married name thing, should I submit a copy of my marriage certificate as proof of the name change?

Once again I don't have any experience with this but I would imagine you should send a copy of your marraige certificate along with the questionnaire ...

I hope this helps you out ...

Edited December 15, 2006 by Waiting in Vancouver

[lynamon 0]

serverence pay (3 weeks)

I was wondering if severence pay is mandatory????????????

[cdancer 0]

I have been reading all the posts here...when you say "EI" do you mean UI unemployment insurance benefits???

the reason why I am asking...I will be leaving a 25 yr job...can I still collect this benefit...living

outside Canada?

after paying into this fund for so many years....wouldn't this be a beautiful thing!

Denise

[Canuck Carrie 1]

I have been reading all the posts here...when you say "EI" do you mean UI unemployment insurance benefits???

the reason why I am asking...I will be leaving a 25 yr job...can I still collect this benefit...living

outside Canada?

after paying into this fund for so many years....wouldn't this be a beautiful thing!

Denise

You can apply for EI (was called UI). The pinned thread should still have links to the forms and questions on the EI website, or check them out on servicecanada.gc.ca.

As a K3 you will not receive any $ until you send them a copy of your EAD or GC, but you would still file for EI before receiving either of those. Do not wait to apply for EI until you receive them.

As for the checks, I get them directly deposited to my Canadian bank account that I left open just for this reason. I then take the money out here at an ATM. Because my bank account is in my maiden name, my EI file is also in my maiden name.

Edited December 15, 2006 by Canuck Carrie

[onesassygirl 0]

As for the checks, I get them directly deposited to my Canadian bank account that I left open just for this reason. I then take the money out here at an ATM. Because my bank account is in my maiden name, my EI file is also in my maiden name.

Hmm.. that's a good idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that. I was worried about having to do it the way flames9 does it.. Thanks for the tip!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Only reason why I didnt have the cheques directly put into my Cdn account was that I had planned to close it. I like using Custom House, usually gives a much better exchange rate than the banks. And using ATM's to take out $$ while in the USA drawn on a CDN account can incurr extra fees, probaly not much though. Just my 2 cents

[onesassygirl 0]

Only reason why I didnt have the cheques directly put into my Cdn account was that I had planned to close it. I like using Custom House, usually gives a much better exchange rate than the banks. And using ATM's to take out $$ while in the USA drawn on a CDN account can incurr extra fees, probaly not much though. Just my 2 cents

I looked up the fees my bank charges for withdrawing money in the US: $3.00 per withdrawal + exchange rate + 2.5% of the converted amount. Plus, the US bank machine I withdraw from may charge an additional fee.

How does Custom House's fees look compared to this?

[zyggy 9]

Only reason why I didnt have the cheques directly put into my Cdn account was that I had planned to close it. I like using Custom House, usually gives a much better exchange rate than the banks. And using ATM's to take out $$ while in the USA drawn on a CDN account can incurr extra fees, probaly not much though. Just my 2 cents

I looked up the fees my bank charges for withdrawing money in the US: $3.00 per withdrawal + exchange rate + 2.5% of the converted amount. Plus, the US bank machine I withdraw from may charge an additional fee.

How does Custom House's fees look compared to this?

No fees... just straight exchange from bank to bank... it does this through an Electronic Funds Transfer...

Edited December 15, 2006 by zyggy

[onesassygirl 0]

Only reason why I didnt have the cheques directly put into my Cdn account was that I had planned to close it. I like using Custom House, usually gives a much better exchange rate than the banks. And using ATM's to take out $$ while in the USA drawn on a CDN account can incurr extra fees, probaly not much though. Just my 2 cents

I looked up the fees my bank charges for withdrawing money in the US: $3.00 per withdrawal + exchange rate + 2.5% of the converted amount. Plus, the US bank machine I withdraw from may charge an additional fee.

How does Custom House's fees look compared to this?

No fees... just straight exchange from bank to bank... it does this through an Electronic Funds Transfer...

I just actually called them. It sounds like the better option of transferring money between accounts.

[zyggy 9]

Only reason why I didnt have the cheques directly put into my Cdn account was that I had planned to close it. I like using Custom House, usually gives a much better exchange rate than the banks. And using ATM's to take out $$ while in the USA drawn on a CDN account can incurr extra fees, probaly not much though. Just my 2 cents

I looked up the fees my bank charges for withdrawing money in the US: $3.00 per withdrawal + exchange rate + 2.5% of the converted amount. Plus, the US bank machine I withdraw from may charge an additional fee.

How does Custom House's fees look compared to this?

No fees... just straight exchange from bank to bank... it does this through an Electronic Funds Transfer...

I just actually called them. It sounds like the better option of transferring money between accounts.

I've been using them for a couple of years now... and have had no problems and the knowledge that I was getting the best bang for my buck...