Canadian Moving to the US - To Do List

[Chika6892]

Hey guys! I'm a Canadian student that will be attending Illinois State University for an MSc. I was hoping for tips on how to get ready to move over there (opening bank accounts, finding housing, etc), as well as things that in hindsight, may have been done better when you were moving.

[biisis]

Yeah! This is the thread I need!

 

Here's a few things I've sketched out so far. My list is specific to being a Fulbright scholar at NYU, so there are a few quirks. I'd be very happy to hear from other folks!

 

- unlock phone

• apparently you can do this at home with a walkthrough via the internet? I will find out more...

- research phone plans

• Anyone got any tips?

- consolidate all my Canadian bank accounts into one

- open up tax free savings account for extra funding dollars

- open American bank account

• (I hear TD Bank and TD Canada trust have free transfers between the two, though I don't know if I'll be able to use TD Bank for Fulbright payments- sometimes there are restrictions on the banks a funder will deposit to, strangely enough)

- Get medical exam for Fulbright/have doctor verify that I have my mumps/measles/rubella shots for NYU

• They really don't want you to have measles. They will kick you out of the program if you don't have medical proof of vaccination a few months into your degree. You can always get the shots in the states, though, after you've landed.

- find housing

• With what I've heard about the New York rental market, I don't have high expectations of finding a place sight unseen. Instead I plan on heading down a few weeks early and hosteling while I visit apartments and frantically try to sign a lease. I am keeping my eyes on Craigslist for sweet cooperative housing situations, though. I'd love to be able to join an intentional living community...

- research movers

• I'm thinking UHAUL storage pods? They gave me a quote for $1750 to move my studio apartment's furnishings from Montreal to New York. I bet there are cheaper options out there, however. They will for sure hold all my stuff in storage while I figure out what I'm doing with my life, however.

- change of address notifications

• bank, provincial and federal taxes and elections, former schools, friends and family

- visa stuff?

• Fulbright will apparently be handling this for me, though that also means that I don't have much in the way of control or knowledge of its progress. This is a bit frustrating.

[TakeruK]

I did the move from Canada to US in 2012. Here are some thoughts from the above list:

 

1. Opening a TFSA is an excellent idea. It sounds like you have not done it yet and since you get contribution room since you turn 19, you should have a ton of room to contribute to the TFSA Put whatever savings you have and think you won't need into a GIC TFSA account (unless you want to invest in mutual funds or something higher risk/higher reward). Generally a GIC will at least give you enough interest to balance out inflation, more or less.

 

2. TD Bank is great if you live in an area with TD Bank. If not, you can open a US bank account at pretty much anytime but they usually would like to see a US address (even if it's not where you are living). My wife and I visited a friend a few months before we moved (and used the time to also look for apartments). We opened our bank accounts at that time too and they said it's fine to use a friend's address as our mailing address (we also provided a permanent Canadian address).

 

3. I recommend opening a US DOLLAR bank account with whatever your Canadian bank is. This allows you to easily transfer money from a Canadian account to a US dollar account.

 

4. I also recommend setting up some way for you to access your Canadian bank account remotely. Many banks will allow you to sign an agreement to accept your instructions over the phone or by fax. Another option is to give power of attorney over your account to someone in Canada that you trust. Both of these options come with risks, so pick whatever you are comfortable with (maybe none if it's not worth the convenience).

 

5. Cell phone plans in the US are much better than in Canada. "Long distance" only means outside of US! I like the TMobile family plan for my wife and I but maybe a single line plan is not as good there. Also check with your school if they have an agreement with a provider to get you a discount plan. 

 

6. UHaul PODS was what we used too. We paid about the same to move from Kingston Ontario to California. We had so much trouble and the POD arrived weeks late. The UHaul people on the receiving end were doing their best to figure out what was going on, but the Kingston UHaul office were not helpful at all. The troubles first began when the Kingston UHaul office did not even have a POD ready despite our reservation and confirmation, and then they took two weeks to actually send it out. We had to figure out our own paperwork and tell them what they needed to submit! They use a third party shipping company and that company didn't keep track of where our POD was so no one knew where it was until it arrived, late! It was still the cheapest option though.

 

7. There is no visa required for Canadians. We still have to have "status" (F-1 or J-1) though, and so make sure you have your I-20 (F-1) or DS-2019 (J-1) before you go!!

 

8. The only other thing I can remember is that if your school requires you to have a physical, don't do it in Canada. In Ontario, I had to pay $125 for a "third party physical" (i.e. annual physicals are covered by OHIP but not if you need to send the results to someone else for work/school purposes). Instead, even though they tell you to do it before you arrive, get it done after you are in the US if your school insurance plan will cover them (mine did and I think the Affordable Care Act requires it now). The exception would be for the above poster, since Fulbright is likely to be more strict!