99problems

I am a banker and you do not need an address to complete a bank draft just a payee. A draft is simply a pre-cleared cheque debited agianst your account immediately you order it. It has nothing to do with money laundering when the identified account holder draws a draft on his/her own account. You are better off dealing over the phone as cashiers and branch managers don't understand these issues.

MillieF

Jim, my only real complaint about the whole of the procedure for spousal sponsorship (which is simple with hindsight, but I found a bit scary at the time!) was the payment part. Given the fact that we had certainly established, one hopes, that we were who we were, why oh why could we not pay by Credit Card? I happen to live in France, and I chose to, but our local bank was hopeless and I ended up sending money to the Isle of Man to get it sent. Between trying to sort it out (getting the family in Canada to pay it by credit card) and not doing so, we added two months onto the whole process, by our inadequacy perhaps, but also the strict payment parameters of the system. You'd think they'd say YES to payment, but it was quite a struggle to pay! Best regards.

Violets are blue

Hi, Just a quick update and question.

I have now received the bank draft through the post (very quick) and it has all of the clearing bank details on it. The only issue is they have made it payable to -Receiver General for Canada - which is correct, however underneath this have written - Immigration Section - (which of course I did not ask them to do).

I am assuming that this will not be a problem and want to send it off to London office. My question is, does anyone think this will cause a problem/issue or should it be okay?

I agree with people who have said to deal over the phone or go to the Post Office and get this done. Its such a simple thing but does seem to cause many problems. Thanks again

Jim Humphries

Postal orders are not accepted along with others for which the issuer charges the payee. There shouldn't be a problem with your bank's check but it does show how entirely ill-prepared British banks are in issuing foreign denominated drafts!

Violets are blue

Thank you very much Jim, I appreciate your response and help . I agree that this is an issue that should in no way even present itself in reality. I was pretty shocked to be honest but hopefully its done now and as suggested by 99problems earlier, if there is a next time, I will do it by phone or online. Thanks again now. Good for other people to know about for sure but hopefully others will have a more straightforward process with this

JonboyE

It shouldn't be a problem.

Violets are blue

Thanks JonboyE, I appreciate your response and just going to go with it now. What's the worst that will happen....it will be returned - and hopefully not . Thanks again

JonboyE

When you pay income tax in Canada your cheques should also be made payable to the Receiver General. However, people make their cheques out to all sorts of names: Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, CCRA and so on. I have yet to see a cheque returned because it did not have the right payee.

Violets are blue

That made me smile, I cant imagine any government body giving money back just because its not quite the right payee . It reminded me that about a month ago i received a cheque (tax rebate - even though I didnt apply for this as I was employed and don't do tax returns) with a letter saying that I had paid too much tax in 2006-2007 (its now 2012!!). First time ever . I put it in the bank but am now just waiting for the letter saying that they have made a mistake and want it back and that I have underpaid!!! .

rockspie

Hi Vioet, WHich bank did you use?