ejbsom

hi does anyone know what the thing is on immigrating to canada while still paying off credit cards in this country. does anyone know if it is something that is looked into. i noticed last night someone mentioned sick of not been able to get onto property ladder here in uk and got loads of debt so off to canada. anyone with advice or info on this. i owe about 20k its all in my name, but my husand is the one who is getting the job.

MarkG

If you have to provide proof of funds (not sure what visa you're talking about here), then you need to include details of any debts. If you leave the country with debts and don't pay them off, then the UK lender can sell the debt to a Canadian debt collector and it can easily follow you across the Atlantic.

I'm not sure about student loans and the like.

Paratrooper

I have been informed on good authority that information on outstanding debts are passed onto UK customs officers, enabling them to arrest defaulters trying to re-enter the country. I am not too sure that they would pursue you in Canada, but you can be pretty sure that debts over £5, 000 will spoil your holiday in the UK.

MesserMoony

Student loan company has two other addresses of family or someone that can contact you. I haven't started paying mine back just yet because I'm not working but had to send a letter with my new address and a letter from the OH saying he was supporting me. I now have until 2008 to start paying back the loan, well if I am working otherwise they get another letter. But they do track you down.

ejbsom

do you know how you would get on if you had declared yourself bankrupt or had an iva because you werent able to pay all your un secured loans. you know these companies that right off up to 70% of your debt. i personally dont care any more if i cant get a mortgage here in uk. would never buy another house in this god forsaken place any way. dont know how canada would look upon it. my husband wouldnt have any of the debt or bad credit. (its all in my bloody name) and hes the one applying for the job and stuff em just kind of tagging along.

ejbsom

no student loans here. just good old fashioned credit cards. all 20k of them. wouldnt want it to delay our application is this something that has to be mentioned from the start. would my husband have to mention it if he got a job offer.

cneldred

You would have to declare any bankrupcy on your paperwork for emigrating.

ejbsom

would this be something that would give them a reason not to let you in.

PaulCall

it should do......sounds ultra dodgy to me

ejbsom

but what if the funds from my driving school business i own here pays the credit cards every month. what that be ok. or would they still think i was a risk

Kat1981

Hey MesserMoony
I thought that if you lived abroad you didn't have to pay back student loans because you're not working in the UK? I know they changed their policy a couple of times over the past few years, but isn't it the case that in the UK you have to earn over $15K (?), so does that transfer overseas now?

cov-canuck

Personal experience - my older brother left the UK and went on a visitor's visa to the US for 6 months, he then wound up in Canada where he settled (he was Canadian so it was all kosher). He not only left his debt on credit cards in the UK (stupid), but continued to use the cards in the US and Canada, thinking he'd never get billed for them (stupider). Needless to say, they tracked him down, he wound up selling off belongings (that he bought with the cards) to pay off his debt.

About declaring bankruptcy - I'm pretty sure some of the questions on my car loan and definitely about our mortgage involved our financial situation in the UK. We provided evidence of things, and thus were given good credit, car loan, mortgage etc. Unless you plan to buy things outright, or lie on your applications (which would screw your Canadian credit for life), you'll struggle to get credit in Canada if you declare bankruptcy in the UK.

It's not personal, but I hated all that stuff in the UK before we left - the 'yes, you spent a fortune on credit cards, you get to keep the stuff you bought, but we'll write off the debt so you don't have to pay it'...sounds like theft to me.

dbd33

I left owing money to Access and Barclaycard. I sent the payments from Canada until they were paid off. Years later Access cancelled my card because I was late paying the annual fee but I still have and use the Barclaycard.

moondevil

once you sell everything in the uk, is it not right to pay off all loans etc and then take your lum sum with you?????

you got the loan, you spent there money, shouldnt you pay it back???

if you dont settle in canada and want to return for any reason, wouldnt it be better knowing that you can return with no debts on your head

if you have the business, sell it and pay your debts off, call me off fashioned, but id rather have a clean slate and a good uk credit if i wanted to return.
Plus the canadian bank we have gone with have spoke with our uk bank and we have got some good deals

cneldred

Can i ask which bank that was?? I have a great relationship with Natwest over here, i use them for my personal banking, business banking and my mortgage. So if i can use that relationship to make things easier for me in Canada then all the better.

Thanks


Chris