jobop

I'm still in the UK and am due to arrive in Vancouver this September, I have opened a bank account with Scotiabank as they offer a StartRight account for newcomers where by you can deposit funds into the account whilst still in the UK and then once you arrive you can activate the account and get access to your funds - link is here if anyone is interested http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,4285,00.html

Just wondered if anyone had opened one and done the same?

My main concern is proof of funds upon landing in Canada, we plan to deposit the amount we need for two people split between two StartRight accounts.
As we can not activate the account until we go into a branch in Canada, and show our landing docs and passport as identity, we do not have access to online banking and therefore we can not print off a bank statement ourselves for proof of funds. Scotiabank said that they would send us confirmation once our transfers had reached the account.

So my question is what sort of confirmation is acceptable to the immigration officer, are they expecting to see printed off bank statements or will a letter from the bank be ok to prove funds? I am assuming it will have to be on bank letter headed paper or will an email confirmation be accepted as long as it states our names and account details?

I would be nervous to transfer any funds until I know what is acceptable, we will have money and statements from a UK bank as well which we can also show but it will only be half the amount of funds required in UK money as the main money will be in the Scotia Bank

I will be phoning the bank later to ask them what they will supply? All they put in the email is that they would send us confirmation of our wire transfers to our accounts in Canada, this is why I ask the question of what is accepted upon entry, we are so nearly there and I don't want this to mess things up when we land.

jobop

Thanks for your reply, rightly so I'll be carry everything needed when entering Canada, just wanting to check on the format expected for proof of funds and also if anyone has any experiences with Scotiabank?

Not sure who I can ask, phone or email about this as there is nothing stated with my COPR info on how proof of funds should be displayed?

Am thinking I will take a copy of my Statement with the UK money in before transferring it to the money transfer company, then screen grab my account to show funds in there and then have whatever Scotiabank supply to me so I can show the trail... just to be on the safe side

Will still be checking with Scotiabank first what proof exactly they will be supplying, most on here say a bank statement is fine but what if its not a bank statement and a letter from the bank or an email instead?

jobop

Just to let you know that we received in the post confirmation of our Scotiabank StartRight accounts today, its nice to get a hard copy of the documents through the post rather than just an email

Also got confirmation that they will post us proof of our transfers and also the balance once received, am happy with this now as it was pretty quick coming through the post so I feel confident they will deliver.

Just thought I would share my experience so far

james.mc

Jobop

We opened a joint account at Scotiabank before we landed. We had debit cards, a savings account and internet banking. These were all active before we arrived.

As long as the funds have been in the Canadian account for some time (three months rings a bell) then a Scotiabank statement (printout) showing proof of funds should be enough to keep CIC happy on landing. You should also be prepared to show the source of the funds arriving in your Canadian account if there are recent sizeable credits.

That is assuming you are asked to provide proof of funds. We weren't on landing at Vancouver earlier this year. Mind you, you should always be ready to prove funds at any time.

jobop

We have only just opened the account and are landing mid Sept so we won't of had the account for 3 months, we will have letters from Scotiabank to confirm that the account is ours and also a letter to show proof of money transfer into the account and the balance.
I am also printing out my UK bank statement to show money leaving my UK account to transfer company and then onto Canadian account so we have a trail of the money if they need to see things in more detail.
We will also show an UK bank statement upon landing with money still in the UK waiting transfer (basically last pay before leaving and to also have access to some money before activating the Canadian account).

Hopefully all of the above will be ok as otherwise we will have no other way of proving funds, thought it would be best to have some money in a Canadian bank ready for when we get there. And as you say we might not even be asked but its better to have everything in place

james.mc

Jobop

All sounds good to me. You may not be asked at all. If not asked I wouldn't bother volunteering any proof of funds. Just keep quiet about it. The less CIC have to look at the better IMHO.

Good luck!

Former Lancastrian

CIC dont work at Ports of Entry CBSA do though

james.mc

Oops!! ... Dead right there..... fades away into the background. ....