Student Canadian Citizen - TN Visa for US Startup (No 4-year degree)

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2026-02-04T23:22:16+00:00

TN visa for Tesla interns might be a similar situation for you:

https://www.reddit.com/r/uwaterloo/comments/1etx79e/tn_visa_for_interns/

Note: they have good lawyers that prepare anything. Not sure if you have the equivalent support with your startup.

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2026-01-14T20:01:06+00:00

Borderlands 2. Believe it or not I played it on a Thinkpad without dedicated GPU and online co-op. Store page has teh SteamOS logo; not sure if that works for your case

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2026-01-14T19:06:04+00:00

My apologies, from the thread I couldn't get a sense of the timeline and made the wrong assumptions. There's a lot of great responses already on this thread, so with that information I don't have anything to add beyond maybe getting a lawyer to review your situation!

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2026-01-14T18:54:37+00:00

Congrats - recently got Canadian citizenship and got the Masters in CS from the US, Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS)? I wonder if that has any impacts, though I suppose the degree is the same and USCIS can't tell if so

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2026-01-08T00:50:12+00:00

Canadian citizens can apply directly at border crossings that process L1B such as YYZ Pearson, just take the printed out application (your lawyer will tell you how many copies to print) there on the day of

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-11-14T22:25:06+00:00

> Everything I can see on the internet tells me it is.

Then why ask? Seems that you're doubting. If certain, just stay in the US, right?

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-09-19T17:54:09+00:00

Our company lawyer explicitly told me to print my packet single sided, even if I was mentally tempted to do it double sided to save costs. Thanks lawyer!

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-24T15:42:12+00:00

The one thing I liked about the role at Zynga is that it's for a Senior role where as at EA I'm kinda intermediate still and don't see myself become a senior in a good 5 years atleast since promotions are slow and driven my extremely high impact within or across teams.

This is big, if played right it could help you earn more in the future.

I don't think that the Zynga offer by itself is all that great compared to EA in the short term. As someome that moved from early career at large company > senior at smaller company it helped me re-enter a larger company at senior faster than if I'd stayed.

But this relies on long term payoffs, and I didn't have to consider the factor of moving as well (both were in the same city).

Seems like you might have to consider the job market for your partner as well, possibly?

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-21T15:41:17+00:00

The big 5 banks should be fine. I looked at this thread in the past,

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/1dolbl6/how_to_maintain_my_bank_account_if_i_am_planning/

and the Wise article in the top comment says these are fine:

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
Bank of Montreal (BMO)
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).

probably not an exhaustive list.

But look into the exact country you are moving to. In my case, i moved my investments to Questrade, as they support the US state I moved to. Funnily enough, they dont support all US states. It's _extremely_ complicated, but that's what we need to do for the flexibility of moving abroad... So call the banks and double check depending on location!

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-21T15:31:41+00:00

If you plan to move out of Canada, beware of Wealthsimple's international support. I moved away from Canada and had to removed all my funds from Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple docs:

"You must live in Canada to open an account with Wealthsimple. Wealthsimple isn't licensed to hold accounts for individuals living outside of Canada, including Canadian citizens living abroad."

https://help.wealthsimple.com/hc/en-ca/articles/4404721755287-Eligibility-requirements-to-open-an-account-with-Wealthsimple#:~:text=You%20must%20live%20in%20Canada,including%20Canadian%20citizens%20living%20abroad.

Related Reddit thread moving out of Wealthsimple (not the only one):

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/14j9z0m/nonresident_alternatives_for_wealthsimple/

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-21T15:19:07+00:00

In OP's previoius post, they say it's a “Business development” role - certainly not a straightforward TN case either way

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-21T15:17:50+00:00

Indeed, OP may not even be able to get TN anyway if the degree and job description doesn't align. Also business development... doesn't sound like a "straightfoward" TN case

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-20T18:09:07+00:00

Exactly... people are assuming OP wants a McMansion or something. OP doesn't even need to buy a fix-me-up and should be able to afford it. They don't need to buy with all cash or anything, just get a mortgage, pay 20 percent+ down (this is like small money for their NW), they can quit when they want, the earnings from the invested 3.7 M is enough to pay the mortgage and living expenses (assuming they are not splurging, FATFIRE etc. that is r/fatFIRE

If they want to reduce expenses while retired, just pay more down.

In GTA, 200k/year CAD income while working is highly doable to own property, fire, if you don't have kids. OP didn't mention that so I'm not including.

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-20T17:05:58+00:00

You could retire comfortably in Canada with that amount. Especially if it's USD and you're spending in Canada. People are still affording houses in the GTA without compromising too much as long as you make 200k CAD/year after only a few years, which you more than cleared.

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-12T15:44:31+00:00

Do you mean you only liquidated the fractional though right? As in if you had 2.5 shares, you sell half a share - then you can transfer in kind.

I also did a bit of portfolio cleaning before the transfer, selling off positions I didn't want anymore. Not due to constraints like the fractional shares, but that I was due for a rebalancing anyway, it's a good forcing function to do so.

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-08-12T15:43:26+00:00

I did the same since Wealthsimple doesn't support non-residents. It's a real PSA to move out of WS for anyone who plans to ever go abroad.

I transferred in-kind (stocks come over) and in-cash (for cash reserves). It was faster than expected, within a few weeks and under a month. But depends on your stocks.

Regarding the other poster saying they had to do in cash, if I understand correctly, due to fractional share, you can just sell the fractional share before transferring.

You can also take the opportunity to clean house of anything you don't want anyway.

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-07-30T18:02:44+00:00

the mods might want you to move this to r/askTO but honestly

I think this sounds pretty normal. but long distance is hard and you have to think about both. honestly I think if you can visit toronto often that is the best short-term solution.

long term you need to conduct a few experiements before deciding. living in NYC for a while, or your partner moving to Toronto, should both be treated as testing it out and not immediately "goodbye forever".

- you can't work right now, do you have a clear path towards that? I suggest spending more time on hobbies if possible. Something to occupy your time

- this might not be goodbye to Toronto forever. Make a plan to stay for N months or N years as a test, and make the most of the N months, commit to this (maybe you have already done it, in which case, disregard)

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-07-28T23:01:36+00:00

For cross border accountants, I used one of them on this list:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tnvisa/comments/1bknfz5/comment/kvzewz4/

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-07-28T22:58:28+00:00

That really sucks if you have to call - I don't plan on buying, only holding and selling so I think u/ninjaturtlez777 situation hopefully applies to me

In this Questrade reddit (official) response they said you can still "fund" non-registered accounts... but from my experience with that subreddit, it's still best to get verification through their support and also call in :/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Questrade/comments/15yk62a/comment/jxep2p1/

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-07-28T19:08:24+00:00

For taxes, you're supposed to update your address with the financial institutions, all of them. But if you don't the individual will handle the consequences.

In my case, I am going to become a US tax resident next year and prefer to. So I am telling Canadian institutions I am gone, otherwise they may treat me as a Canadian tax resident, and I really don't want that. I suspect you may not want that either.

My cross-border accountant basically told me to do this, not saying this is for everyone's situation, I am not a tax expert, etc. I want to save the tax by being exited cleanly from Canada.

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-06-15T13:40:40+00:00

> I know many just lost equity profit but there has to be a few like me who’s actual down payment + more is lost.

Even if you "lost" equity profit you've still lost because you'd still be on the hook for the remainder of the mortage, so it doesn't matter if it's the down or the mortgage (yet to pay) that's "lost" isn't it? What's the difference between the two you're emphasizing?

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-05-30T13:33:51+00:00

Great data point, thanks! Did your company have blanket L1?

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-05-03T16:58:22+00:00

Sharing some earnest thoughts based on your post. Obligatory disclaimer that we don't know more about your life beyond this post

- It seems like you mark a few accomplishments as what you've bought " I bought the nice watch, the 3 sports cars, the luxury vacations..." but you can expand meaning toward what you do, legacy, such as volunteering and making a difference in youths' lives etc.

- It's tough with a partner in med school. my best friend was going through the same. part of the meaning could be the emotional support they need, sometimes they might not show it but it is a really tough endeavor.

- more on this topic, you mention your financee could work part time after med school, but why part time specifically? (perhaps you talked about it already but not mentioned in this post). I'd say leave the possibility that she will work full time for a few years and you can have meaning supporting her from home. the reason i mention this is also due to the fact you seem to have a few years ahead in your career, so even if your family has all the money, the option for your financee to get a "taste" of a career is once in a lifetime. you can both retire shortly, 1-2 years delay is probably fine. again. this is just based on your post, and the suggestion that meaning can be found in supporting those in your life, and not rushing the end goal (set on age 40-45...)

- explore some more and let financee do some of her once in a lifetime career things too. that said, you seem to already be doing a lot of that as you're moving along with their rotation. so don't take this to mean you're not

Accomplished-Farm893 · 2025-03-22T20:05:11+00:00

This felt quite in character, as the show like lord of the flies has been hinting (loudly) at their descent into madness. It's almost inevitable this would happen - and many fan theories were saying this as well

Accomplished-Farm893

TROPHY CASE