transfer overseas bank accounts to US

nstudent · Post by **nstudent** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:53 pm

I am a Canadian citizen but currently live in US. I still have a few accounts in Canada which I find hard to manage (I joined in the 2011 ovdi) . I am thinking moving these accounts to US. Some of my accounts are over $10k. Two questions:

Which way is better: write a check or have the banks wired the money into my account in US?

Do I have to fill in some forms to Uncle Sam?

Many thanks in advance.

tsanaha · Post by **tsanaha** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:29 pm

you only need to fill a form if you bring them in cash (over 10K) otherwise no need to fill forms (as far as i know and i did many times before).

the US bank (that you put the money in) will tip off uncle sam any large amount transaction.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 2:28 pm

banks will take care of reporting whichever you do,

but above all you want the exchange rate to be determined by the Cdn bank, and then USDs brought over to your US bank.

This will be both cheaper ansd will give you access to your funds in 2-3 days instead over 4-5 weeks.

nstudent · Post by **nstudent** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:01 pm

tsanaha & nesonla:

Thank you both for the reply.

So it seems that it is perferable to ask the canadian banks to wire the money as the exchange rates will be better?

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:19 pm

Well the Cdn banks will obviously do the wiring, since the money is in the Cdn bank account.

What I was saying is make sure they wire US dollars, not Cdn dollars.

And there are forex companies tha twill do this at better rates than the banks.

tsanaha · Post by **tsanaha** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:20 pm

yes, I did ask my Canadian bank to convert CAN$ to US$ and then send me a draft.

It seems to me that it is always a better deal to buy foreign currency with the currency that circulates in the country. Since Can$ is not circulating here in US, so if you use CAN$ to buy US$ here, this is a disadvantage.

This rule seems to apply all. You may check bank exchange rate (in US and Canada) -- buy rate/sell rate ect.. to compare the result.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:32 pm

Agreed.

The other issue is what happens at the US bank when you hand them a cheque in C$.

They stop just short of putting on a hazmat suit.

nstudent · Post by **nstudent** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:35 pm

thank everyone for your replies.

I am having trouble with CIBC. I have a small mutual fund with CIBC. I called the tele banking line to close the account, and they said they cannot do it since I don't have a bank account with CIBC and they cannot write a check. So they asked me to call my CIBC branch. I called the CIBC branch and they claimed that they cannot deal with me since I am in US and I should call the tele banking. They just kick the ball around.

Anyone has a similar experience with CIBC?

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:43 pm

Ah, you didn't mention that this was a brokerage/mutual fund account.

The branch should not deal with you. There must be a way for them to write you a check. How did you fund the account in the first place.

nstudent · Post by **nstudent** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:58 pm

nelsona:

I had a bank account with CIBC when I first opened the mutual fund account . However, I closed the bank account due to their not so steller service.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:27 pm

"not so stellar service"

Irony