Currency exchange. Buy bank draft in US Dollars or Canadian

[stuarthall 1]

Question for those who have already crossed over with their Immigrant Visa. 

I plan to open an account at the bank in the States. I don't plan to close my canadian bank account, so I will request a bank draft for a small amount. 

 

Do you buy a bank draft in US Dollars or a bank draft in CAD from your Canadian bank? 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by stuarthall

[dburnt 59]

I would do the draft in US dollars, just for convenience.  If you do Canadian, they will do the conversion (at their rate), but it just makes it easier in the US.

 

I was also unable to actually open my account until I had an SSN.

[Twiz&Toz 240]

Speak to ur bank to see what options you have.... just make an apt with them. 

[don_mar 18]

You can take a look at Wise, used to be called TranferWise. I used it to move money. It offers good exchange rates and low fees. Their website sucks but customer service is excellent.

[German Canadian 1]

Agree with using transferwise. Our banks exchange rate vs wise would have cost us over 4000$ extra. Instead we used Wise, paid 50$ for the wire transfer and about 800$ in fees to Wise. The banks exchange rate was 3.5% lower. 

[Twiz&Toz 240]

If you have a td bank account you can open and American account get better transfer rates and a us debit card only down side is if u went to transfer money U wood need someone in Canada to approve it but that would only be 50$. But if you do a bank draft do it In is funds bc you may get hit with crazy fees from us banks 

[don_mar 18]

I was able to open a BMO account in the US without SSN, before I moved. After you land in the US, you need to go to a branch to get your card etc. Later on when you receive your SSN you need to update your account with your SSN. But you can transfer money to your account before you have SSN.

Edited November 27, 2021 by don_mar