Check list before leaving with IEC visa

jme2010

Hey could we get a few ideas and tips for all the documents one should have for the 2 year visa?


Lets leave PR required stuff out for now and assume we can fly back in a years time and get that stuff.


I'll try and start and maybe edit the list

• Valid passport for the duration of the visa
• Purchase health insurance for up to 2 years
• Reference from landlord to help with leasing
• NDLS driver statement / history if planning to drive
• Credit report for leasing from irish credit bureau
• recent bank statement showing 2500 CAD +
• Place to stay booked hotel / hostel / motel

Any more?

Doylers

Dont know a single Irish person over here thats got asked for anything bar their IEC POE letter. 

Book yourself an AirBnB for the month of July. Places may not have a move in date until 1st of Aug, get a Transferwise account(euro + cad) and send as much money as you can afford now(the rate is high at the moment) and the rest a day before you arrive, then when you get here go straight to the bank to get your banking info,(bank no, transit, acc no) and initiate the transfer from transferwise cad account to the bank(go Scotia or RBC) also request cheques at the same time. Some money info I wish I knew before had was a pain in the ass because I couldnt apply for anywhere to live while my money was bouncing around the world so much! Edit: Also If you go with scotia dont get the Amex gold card get the Visa, discount stores dont take Amex

If you are planning to get a Canadian licence, "lose" your Irish one and apply for a new one now before you go(send it to parents house) and if the "lost" one turns up, you can hand that over to the Canadian driving people to keep forever and at least you have an Irish one at home for when is needed.

I highly suggest applying for jobs now as they can be slow here. You wont be renting anywhere without one(and you will be paying 2-4 months rent upfront so have that ready), amend your CV to have a Canadian number, https://www.virtufon.com/cgi/vf.php  I used vitufon which forwards it to skype. 

Some other stuff to get on day 1:
Bank acc(as said above)
Presto card(any station) they are used for subway, bus, tram.
Mobile plan, Koodo, Freedom and virgin are okay. I think Freedom has the most data at the moment.
Tickets to foo fighters playing in July

All in all, it's a handy move to be frank. Nothing to stress about! I'll meet you for a pint when you're here.

Edit: 1 more thing that no irish people seem to know about (including an accountant), get your p45, take a photo or scan it. Go onto revenue and get a P50, fill out saying you won’t be back for the foreseeable future. Upload everything onto the paye online system ASAP(14-30 days to process). They will repay any tax you paid in 2018, comes in very handy when you’re hemorrhaging money the first while.

jme2010

Loads of questions for you...

So transfarewise...is it secure? does the money just stay in a balance via the website login and I transfare it when I want?

How much does a Canadian bank charge for recieving the money and does transfarewise charge another fee when sending?

I have revolut card / app that can buy Canadian with no fees and transfare to a cad bank. Would that be just as good an option?

Doylers

jme2010 wrote: »

Loads of questions for you...

So transfarewise...is it secure? does the money just stay in a balance via the website login and I transfare it when I want?

How much does a Canadian bank charge for recieving the money and does transfarewise charge another fee when sending?

I have revolut card / app that can buy Canadian with no fees and transfare to a cad bank. Would that be just as good an option?

Yes its very secure, London based and EU regulated 100% good to go. Yep money stays in your account(I can have money in loads of currencies if I want).

So with transferwise its cheap, they charge a commission based on the amount of money being sent. The lowest was 2 euro highest on a few thousand was 14ish. Interesting point to note is, I cant sent money back to ireland using an IBAN(candians are like wtf is that thing) and I also cant send money direct to canada from KBC so transferwise was my only option. To receive money is free with most new accounts for a year or something.
Big thing for me was having a bankcard with candian dollars on it straight away.
Honestly dont know about revolut havent used it in a good while personally so I cant speak to it being better or worse. I think they are slightly different business models i.e. transferwise are in the business or money transfers etc where revolut are borderless accounts with no fee cards.

jme2010

Doylers wrote: »

Big thing for me was having a bankcard with candian dollars on it straight away.

By that you mean you where able to get your Canada bank account to issue a card etc and you transferred from trasferwise, yeah?


Did I read that you can give the hostel/hotel address on the SIN which can be used as an address with the bank?

circular flexing

jme2010 wrote: »

By that you mean you where able to get your Canada bank account to issue a card etc and you transferred from trasferwise, yeah?


Did I read that you can give the hostel/hotel address on the SIN which can be used as an address with the bank?

Banks don't look for proof of address in Canada.

Doylers

No transferwise give you a card too, so that can be used while the money is on the way to the Canadian account.  I strongly suggest having the money in CAD before you leave, banking is slow and backwards over here so dont rely on it!! I had to wait 9 days for cheques because you cant pay rent by transfer.

The SIN can have any address, its never used and they literally told me in the airport that I could change it when im settled but its pointless. 


flexing is correct, proof of address isnt needed when setting up an account. I got two already to try build credit ASAP