question about law

[PiquetteAces]

I am not american , & going to USA with more than 10 000$ in cash .

In Canada , they let me open an US$-account , but I can make transaction only at my bank .

If I deposit in my canadian account , they keep a cut of about 2% , so if I deposit 10 000$us , & withdraw , that will cost me ~200$us+200$can for nothing . & I cant withdraw more than 500$can / day .

If I put the money in my neteller 'account & withdraw from the USA with a debit card , there would be fews problems ;
1- I just order it , it takes 3 weeks to ship it .
2- Max withdraw is 1000$
3- Cant deposit the cash back in my netteler account , so they will ask me a million questions at the canadian borders.

I think , that opening an account in USA seem to be an idea .

So will they do at the border with me if I have , that lets say , 20K$us ?...any help would be appreciate .

- jpp

[drewjustdrew]

I don't recall ever being asked about how much money I was bringing into canada through Niagara or Windsor. Maybe they don't treat Canadians the same way???? I was only asked reason for trip, and if I had anything to declare, but they didn't really define what I had to declare.

I have never flown to/from canada, so I can't comment on that.

P.S. your banking system appears to suck royally.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

To the best of my knowledge (which may be lacking), there is no legal hindrance to bringing as much cash as you want into the U.S. However, when you are about to land (plane or boat), they will give you some documents to complete. One of the questions on one of these forms is whether you are carrying $10,000 or more in cash or cash equivalents. If you say no, and they then find the excess cash on you during a search, then you have broken a law and will be in some amount of trouble. And they will be suspicious that you are here to do a drug deal or some such.

So, if you bring the cash on your person or in your luggage (strongly advise against the latter, as it can easily be lost of stolen while out of your control), just make sure you declare it on one of the forms they give you on the plane or at the border if you're driving in from Canada.

Or, you could wire the money in from your bank at home to the casino or a bank nearby. That way you need not worry about getting robbed or accidentally losing the cash.

later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[PiquetteAces]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">En réponse à:</font><hr />
Or, you could wire the money in from your bank at home to the casino or a bank nearby. That way you need not worry about getting robbed or accidentally losing the cash.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanx for ur advice , &amp; Yes , a money-wire would be good , but if I use the service of like Western Union , I think they charge like 8% about of fees , &amp; paying 800$ for such a service is for me the same as getting robbed .

- jpp

[Punker]

I have flown from Canada to the USA with an amount of traveller's cheques exceeding US$10,000. Just make sure and declare it and you won't have a problem. When I declared it, they asked me into the side room, made a note of the traveller cheque numbers, and said have a nice trip. Crossing the border with the money is not a problem at all.

I don't know if you can open a bank account in the US without a US mailing address however.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Your regular bank in Canada should be willing to wire money for you to a casino or wherever for a lot less than 8%. At least, it ought to be a lot less than 8% for a non-trivial amount of money such as this.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[youtalkfunny]

I've always valued Greg's posts on strategy.

That said, I've got to confess that I'm not taking him seriously as an expert on securing, on your person, large amounts of cash. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Diplomat]

I'm not sure which of the Big Four you use, but I know Royal Bank will do wires for relatively cheap. If you want to avoid it all together, just get cash. Keep in mind though that most Canadian banks, including large centrally located banks, will not have 10K+ in US cash on hand. Avoid problems by calling the bank a couple days ahead and pre-ordering the money.

-Diplomat

[nmt09]

I'm not sure how popular they are over in the US or Canada but wouldn't insured travelers cheques be a better way to handle this amount of cash????

[tonypaladino]

What about Canada Post Money Orders?

You can get a max of US$999.99 per MO for about C$4 and they are cashable for free at any US Post Office.

[tubalkain]

They are NOT cashable at US post offices. I received one several weeks ago. The US post offices refused to cash it. My bank had to send it for collection like a bad check, and it cost $40 and took three weeks to deposit.

[Diplomat]

Again, while this would work, there are better alternatives. Cash, traveler's cheques, or wire transfers are his best bet.

-Diplomat

[tonypaladino]

I think there are two types of Canada Post MOs, domestic and international, the pink international ones, when drawn in USD can indeed be cashed at the USPS. I used to be a full time eBay seller and cashed about one a month there. US banks will charge a huge fee, but I was able to get the local (NYC) branch of Bank of Nova Scotia to cash one for me once.