Money transfer question

I'll start with the traditional apology if any of these questions have been asked before but this forum kept excluding my "j-1" search term and the other threads were about moving here permanently. I will soon be working in the US as a post-doc researcher on a J-1 scholar/exchange visa, after 3-5 years we will move back to Canada for permanent work.

I have debts back in Canada, students loans, credit debt, and a car payment (not leasing). Since we will eventually be moving back to Canada, I don't want to default on any of these loans, I'd love to buy a house someday. I've read that wire transfers and cheque cashing gets expensive and takes a long time. I've also read that both Xoom and Paypal can transfer money from US accounts to Canadian ones with less fees and less time. Does anyone have experience using either of these services to get money home? Any other ways to do this? Is Xoom legit? It seems a little too easy but if that's what the kids are all using these days then that's great.

**From what I can tell it looks like we'll have to import the car but since it's a 2006 I don't think this will be a big issue.**

Thanks a lot and I apologize again if this gets asked every week or so.

I have been using Customhouse.com since 2005 and never had a problem! If one does a Electronic File Transfer (EFT) it is FREE!! Takes around 4-6 Business days to do a transaction. They do offer a wire service which is pretty much instant, but there is a fee!

CH used to be centred in Victoria, but this year it has been bought by Western Union. I haven't noticed a difference in the service!

flames, nowadays, if you are transferring money FROM canada thru customhouse, you can set this up as a bill payment, no fee, and is just as fast as wire.

US to Canada is still as you describe.

I just logged into my CH acct, and from Canada to USA, I don't see a "bill" option. Just the normal Wire, Draft and EFT options. I have only ever used the EFT (free) option, so can't comment on the others

Takes around 4-6 Business days to do a transaction.

Which is ridiculously slow given that a first class letter--a technology that has been around for hundreds of years--only takes 3-5 business days.

Actually depending on your relationship with your Canadian bank I might indeed recommend the low tech solution in your case. A mail deposit of a US dollar check, drawn on your US account, and mailed to your Canadian bank will take about 3-5 business days to get there and the exchange rates/service charges will be very reasonable.

The key is whether the Canadian bank then puts a 'hold' on the deposit. If there is no hold placed (ie you have a good long term relationship with your bank) then I would indeed recommend this approach. If the Canadian bank does put a hold it can be quite long making this approach much less appealing. Ask your bank how they would handle this.

Once available funds are in the Canadian account the payments to your Canadian creditors would then all be done electronically of course.

Ya its slow,lol Takes over a week to mail a letter from DC to Saskatoon, plus you have the chance of the postal system loosing ur cheque!

Ya its slow,lol Takes over a week to mail a letter from DC to Saskatoon, plus you have the chance of the postal system loosing ur cheque!

Since there are only a few Canadian banks and they all have branches in all major Canadian cities, you can check with your bank whether you can mail it to a branch in a major Canadian center closest to your US home rather than your home branch. That should reduce mailing time substantially if it works.

I've never had the post office lose a first class letter in my entire life. Bulk mail does occasionally go astray. In the unlikely event a letter did get lost, you wouldn't actually be out any money, since the check would never clear, and you can always send an international wire transfer to get the funds there the same day as a backup plan.

There are various routes. TD and Royal now have USA branches. Im quite happy for the most part with CH. I don't use their services as much as I used to. Never used their Wire service, but hear it works well, but of course their is a fee. EFT is completely free. And have checked out the exchange rate on what my bank was going to give me and what CH rate was, and CH always was better. Not a huge deal if the amount is low, but if your transferring over larger sums of $$ it is

I just logged into my CH acct, and from Canada to USA, I don't see a "bill" option. Just the normal Wire, Draft and EFT options. I have only ever used the EFT (free) option, so can't comment on the others

flames, ts there. You would need go to your Cdn bank website and add CH has a bill. CH explins this in their help files.

I've never used the wire feature because, quite frankly, my affirs are in order so I never have to 'rush' money anywhere.

I trust ya,lol I don't need to send $$ fast anymore. I only use it when I'm about to head back to Sask. and want a bit of cdn Spending $$ for my Tim Hortons coffee,lol

I did learn 1 $$$ lesson a few yrs back! Some USA credit cards charge an extra fee each time you use it out of the USA!! Man, that hurt! Luckily not all do!