yeah, but does the ID need to be Canadian, or will a US passport work?

if ur proving Canadian residency, then i assume all docs need to be Canadian

u might be able to substitute another form of ID, but only way to find out for sure is to email them

canadian landline phone bill, or any other type of bill showing residency (not cell phone) + us pass.
/end of story

correct, US pass will suffice

I will say, it should seem a bit scarier to you. I definitely overestimated how easy this would be. Immigration very nearly turned me away. It's not easy.

How many of you opened a Canadian bank without first getting a residence in Canada?

I don't want to get an apartment until I can for sure get a bank account opened. I've already been denied at one Canadian bank as mentioned in an earlier post.

1.

I gave them my address in Michigan and told them I'd change it once I knew where I'd be living in Canada. All went smoothly.

For those of you trying to figure out the fastest way to get an utility bill in Canada, Bell wireless will send you an electronic bill ~8 days after you sign up for service.

Also BC Hydro lets your landlord add a second name to the account if you get a place with utilities included. If you can convince your landlord to make the change a few days before the end of the month, you should receive the bill the first week of the following month (this worked for me in Vancouver).

I also gave a US address and told the back I was looking for a place in Canada with no problems.

-Carlos

Anyone know the address of the bank where I'm supposed to send the verification transfers to for moneybookers?

what currency are you sending in? I did mine in USD:

click on the upload funds tab at the top - then click on bank transfer. For USD transfers there is a link on the side of the page giving the alternate bank details.

For me the alternative bank details for USD didn't show up right away. I had to click on verify credit card and then click back on verify bank account to get it to show up.

I'm sending it in CAD.

I'm unable to find this link. I can only find the non-USD wire info. Please tell me how to find the other. I click on View Limit -> Verify Bank Account and there's no links.

Thanks.

Nevermind. After posting, I saw that you guys had answered it further in the thread. Thanks a bunch.

I'm contemplating signing a 1-2 month lease in Vancouver and then traveling a bit out of the country without having a permanent home address. Would I still be able to play on Pokerstars while traveling abroad?

I would email security and ask them. There have been problems with people that have stayed in Canada for short periods and then returned to the US. They logged on from the US and their residence immediately changed back. I'm not sure if you'd have this problem if you were abroad but it's worth asking them.

How are the games lhe games dude? I've got mtt bug and ready for WCOOP!

I'm only playing limit HE, they are decent but obviously not as good as pre BF.

I emailed stars security in regards to my previous question but got this auto response:


"As a result of legal developments in the United States following which we will no longer offer services to residents of the US or US territories, we are unable to assist you with your change of address enquiry at this stage.

We kindly ask you that you contact us once you have relocated to your new intended country of residence and we will then provide you further information on how to start playing again on PokerStars, as the current legal developments are limited only to the US and US territories."

Can someone who has made the relocation email them for me regarding what happens to Pokerstars access once you've successfully relocated, your lease ends but you don't sign a new lease and travel abroad.

does any1 have the facts about the tax situation?

The fact is that it's a pretty gray area/open to interpretation. For non-resident Americans playing online poker in Canada, that is.

What happens if you get shut down at the border?

Are there repercussions with future entry if I decide not to leave on the original flight I booked?

ok, i have a lot of information. here's my story/situation.

My situation:

I have a wife and a 1.5 year old. We have a home in North Carolina that we emptied/sold everything out of and the plan was for me to drive our vehicle and a trailer, with bare essentials for finding an empty place, from NC to Seattle on July 3rd and meet my wife/son at the Seattle airport on July 7th. Attempt our border crossing on July 8th.

The border crossing was brutal. He objected to a lot of my story. I have several real estate investments that earn me a liveable salary on it's own, so my plan was to not mention poker and just say I was moving abroad to take advantage of the tax benefits and to do some travelling before my son was of age to go to school. My plan was to do 6 months in Canada and then go to Seattle, sell all our crap before we went to S. America. He said it looked like we were moving in and it didn't look good. He also said that he thought I wasn't telling him the whole truth. So, I told him about the poker situation. Telling him about BF, etc. He obviously knew about American online-poker laws. He wanted to know where I was staying. I didn't know. I told him it seemed absurd to rent a place for 6 months without having seen it. He thought that was ridiculous. He thought my story had a lot of holes and didn't buy much of it. Anyways, we got denied and were "Allowed to return to the US" (versus deportation) and spent a very stressful 4 days in Seattle trying to get our **** together for our next and final attempt. It went very smoothly and everything worked out.

Here's a list of everything one might need (especially those not traveling alone) to make your border crossing as seamless as possible:

1) Bank Statements with proof of funds (this should probably be at least 5k/mo)
2) If you have passive non-poker income, this would be good
3) Living arrangements worked out ahead of time
4) Evidence that you have incentive to return to the US (mortgage statement, a return flight already booked is really good, even if you're not sure you'll use it)
5) Do not bring evidence of Canadian bank accounts (he thought this was unnecessary)
6) Do not bring evidence of a management contract on your home (he said it looks like you're planning on staying here for a year as you can't go back to your home until next August)

DO NOT SAY THE FOLLOWING WORDS WHEN CROSSING:

1. Work
2. Attend school in Canada
3. Moving
4. Do not lie (they have the right to deport, which means you can not attempt to get into Canada for 1 year)

DO SAY

1. Play
2. Travel
3. Vacation

Be smart. Do some homework where you're going and at least be able to mention some of the things you'd like to do while in that town.

1. Hiking (name the provincial parks)
2. Eating (name some restaurants)
3. Surfing (name the beaches)

You get the idea.

Good luck and feel free to PM/ask questions here and I'll do my best.

Also, if they stamp your passport as having to be out by a certain date, if you are not out by that date, it's just as if you had stayed longer than 6 months. You're name will be input into the system and you can be arrested.

Just submitted the question. I need to know this as well, because after Canada, I plan on traveling all over.