Moving to St. Kitts

@Peter Burdon Best wishes in your move. I don't have specific suggestions, it sounds like you have a lot under control, but if you have questions as you go through the process, let me know. I've been here a year, so I'm still finding out some things, but I'll give answers if I can.

@EvaTheMongoose Thanks Eva. I'm looking for tips on foreign exchange conversion. I need to exchange Canadian dollars into US dollars.    It's terribly expensive right now given the strength of the US dollar over the Canadian dollar. But as you probably know the banks charge a very large premium.  My Canadian bank has quoted me a fee of about $15,000 on a transfer of $1M.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

@Peter Burdon You may want to sell and only ship things that you absolutely don't want to get rid of.  Consider selling your home furnished and start completely fresh when you get here.  I had absolutely no guidance when I made my move and had some costly regrets.

@Peter Burdon I think you should be ok with opening an account in St. Kitts with a check from your bank.  I don't believe there is a fee to do so. There is possibly a long wait for check clearance but not an actual fee.  I believe there is also a branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia that is still here if I am not mistaken, so If you bank with them you should be fine.  Also... why not just keep your current bank?  Cards are accepted almost everywhere, if you need cash there is always the ATM.

@NattyDem Thanks for your comments. It's the very large currency exchange fees that has me searching for the best approach in transferring funds from CDN to USA. My local bank charges about 5% on the money exchanged. 

Good morning, am also planning to relocate to st. kitts 2 months from now. although its a visa free country to Nigerians, currently in liberia for a tech training, i plan on leaving from here to st. kitts, don't know if getting a job will be easy for me in other to take care of my family. please i will need a guide

We, too, are planning to relocate to Basseterre this fall. It's exciting to see others from N. America making the same choice.Is Wise.com available for transfers to St. Kitts? We used that successfully to reduce foreign exchange fees between USDs and euros last year. Peter, did your Canadian bank quote you a rate for CAD to XCD? Maybe they won't charge so much extra to convert to East Caribbean Dollars? You'll need at least some of those in St. Kitts/Nevis, I think.Just an idea. Joyce O.

Hi! We are also considering moving to st kitts and planning a scouting trip this September. Does anybody know any families that have moved to St Kitts recently? Looking for somebody who is happy to share their experience on relocating with a child. Thank you! Kat

@Peter Burdon

Hello Peter,

We are a couple close to retire with an adult son in calgary, we are selling business and house for now.

We hope to move to St Kitts by the end of this year.

Are you in St Kitts for now? We try to connect with canadians over there.....it is not easy.

We would love to chat with you if you don't mind.

Hope to hear from you.

Kindly. Marie.