OT-Speaking of moving to the US....

[snickerboo]

It looks like we are (but not to Disney ). Dh is being transferred to St. Louis, MO. I already posted to the St. Louis crowd on the community board and they're being v. helpful about St. Louis. But, more overwhelming, is moving our entire lives to the US! The Visa will be fine. Dh qualifies for L1A-management tranfer-which is one of the simplest Visas. BUT there's so much alse to think about: the cars, the schools, the banking....!!!!

Has anyone here done this successfully? If so, could you PM me? I'm so overwhelmed!

 

[Northstar]

It looks like we are (but not to Disney ). Dh is being transferred to St. Louis, MO. I already posted to the St. Louis crowd on the community board and they're being v. helpful about St. Louis. But, more overwhelming, is moving our entire lives to the US! The Visa will be fine. Dh qualifies for L1A-management tranfer-which is one of the simplest Visas. BUT there's so much alse to think about: the cars, the schools, the banking....!!!!

Has anyone here done this successfully? If so, could you PM me? I'm so overwhelmed!

Not PMing you because I moved the other direction, but just sending hugs and support. It's doable. Really. But the paperwork and details can be intimidating.

My advice on what to look into first is your health insurance. Will you be getting coverage through DH's work? Will it kick in right away? If not, consider a travel insurance policy to cover until then. Check with your provincial health insurance about whether they'll cover anything at all after you move. Get that info ASAP and get the travel policy bought if necessary so you don' have to worry about it later.

Next thing to worry about, getting your act straight with Canada Revenue. You may be able to be considered a "non resident" after your move. This is to your advantage because if you are a "deemed resident" of Canada, you'll have to file taxes on your yearly worldwide income in BOTH Canada and the US. Read this page carefully to see what you need to do to make sure CRA will consider you a non-resident after you move:
CRA webpage: leaving Canada (emigrants)

If your DH's company is used to helping people with international relocations, take advantage of their expertise. Identify a got-to person to phone or email with your questions. And keep asking questions... the issues that were hardest for us to settle were the ones where we didn't ask the questions because we just assumed things would be the same in Canada as in the US.

Oh, and set up a filing system right now to deal with everything related to the move. You'll need three locations: A physical file (where you can toss papers), an email file (where you store all emails related to move), and a folder on your computer. Don't worry about the details of what category the item falls under, just make sure that everything goes into one place so, when you're frantically searching for that one bit of paperwork that you need, you will have a good idea where to start. Believe me, once you get into the chaos of moving, everything gets lost more easily than usual.

Good luck! Keep us posted. And remember, you're getting closer to the Mouse!

 

[snickerboo]

Thanks, Northstar. Yep, we have to 'sever ties' with Canada so that we can pay US taxes instead of Canadian. THere's just too big a difference in income tax there and here on your take-home pay. I'm not sure how we'll manage all fo the banking. I did hear from one Canadian gentleman that there's an off-shoot of RBC in the US and he transferred his RBC Canada accts there very easily. We have some RRSPs and RESPs and those will be the kicker, especially the RESPs which, I think, we have to cash in and pay a tax penalty for having done so. We have to look into that more. I'd love to leave the RESPs but I don't think that's possible unless we pay US and Canadian taxes and we're definitely not doing that!

Thanks for the health info. It never entered my mind to use travel insurance as a bridge between permanent insurance & Ontario coverage. My dh will get coverage from his work. He's being transferred to his own company's headquarters so I'm pretty sure all of our benefits will kick in right away (there's not trial period, he's worked there for several years). Supposedly, they are putting together the package of our US benefits, moving expenses, etc., as we speak, so I'll know more when we receive that. Dh's company has not done a ton of relocating to the US so I'm not confident their HR person will know what I need to know.

 

[minnie56]

You can open an RBC account in Florida from here even before you go. We have 2 down there...you can even pick which branch location you want it opened at. Easy..

If I can tell you anything of use though? Banking is VERY different there than here...keep a good eye on your account online.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Northstar]

Thanks, Northstar. Yep, we have to 'sever ties' with Canada so that we can pay US taxes instead of Canadian. THere's just too big a difference in income tax there and here on your take-home pay. I'm not sure how we'll manage all fo the banking. I did hear from one Canadian gentleman that there's an off-shoot of RBC in the US and he transferred his RBC Canada accts there very easily. We have some RRSPs and RESPs and those will be the kicker, especially the RESPs which, I think, we have to cash in and pay a tax penalty for having done so. We have to look into that more. I'd love to leave the RESPs but I don't think that's possible unless we pay US and Canadian taxes and we're definitely not doing that!
.

Don't cash the RRSPs. You can keep them without that being considered a residential tie that would make you taxable on your worldwide income in Canada... but to avoid trouble with the US, you'll need to file (US) Form 8891 every year with your US tax return.

The RESP, hmm, I think that might cause problems, not because it's a residential tie with Canada, but because the US will tax it the same way they would any other investment, and they will want you to fill out complicated forms relating to a "foreign trust."

By the way, you shouldn't be double-taxed on any of your income, even if you end up having to file both US and Canadian tax forms every year. You just have to determine which country is entitled to tax you on that income, then you can get a credit on foreign taxes paid from the other country. It's just a lot of paperwork!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

It looks like we are (but not to Disney ). Dh is being transferred to St. Louis, MO. I already posted to the St. Louis crowd on the community board and they're being v. helpful about St. Louis. But, more overwhelming, is moving our entire lives to the US! The Visa will be fine. Dh qualifies for L1A-management tranfer-which is one of the simplest Visas. BUT there's so much alse to think about: the cars, the schools, the banking....!!!!

Has anyone here done this successfully? If so, could you PM me? I'm so overwhelmed!

Best of luck & ((((hugs))))!