Hello, Dear Colin...
You have asked a very important question, one that I have been asking myself for a few weeks since I will also be landing soon.
First let us start by saying that looking at the requirements for Canadian immigration, the essence of the Proof of funds is that you should be able to sustain yourself and dependants for a minimum of 6 months on arrival in Canada, assuming you do not get employment by that date. This is an important concept, since the government of Canada will not offer you financial assistance in that period.
Second, the POF is an essential part of admissibility into Canada at the Point of entry. Infact, the four things listed on the CIC website that will determine admissibility, are your travel documents, valid entry visas, COPRs and the POF. The officer at the POE must ascertain that you have enough POF, at least, the minimum required of you and your dependants.
In summary, you must have your POF, or else, you may be denied entry.
However, the question of how to 'carry' the POF now arises. On the CIC website, they didn't mention HOW to carry it. That is the main crux of the matter. They only said that if you have cash, draft or travellers' cheques exceeding $10,000, you must declare to immigrations at point of entry. A lot of us have assumed that these are the only acceptable ways of carrying the POF to show at the POE. What the website says is that this fund must be READILY ACCESSIBLE to us when we land.
Where we are going is this. It is more reassuring to carry cash, since no one can deny that we have money when we show cash. But virtually all POF is above the $10,000 limit, and must be declared at both MMIA, your stop over airport, and the POE in Canada. And a lot of us are very very very wary of carrying such large amounts of money as cash passing through unsecured departure lounges after declaring them. We hear a lot of stories of people who take such risks, and are victims of theft, etc.
The Mastercard from Nigerian banks (most banks now have a Naira mastercard that you can use at almost any ATM or POS in most nations of the world, before, it was the sole territory of GTBank) offers a more convenient way of carrying cash around. BUT IS THIS ACCEPTABLE AT THE POE?
That is the crux of this matter. Even the mighty Qorax did not talk about the mastercard in his submission, he only addressed the idea that Bank statements are a no no..... http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t39318.0.html
Now, going to the landing experience of most people.
About 90% of landed Permanent residents have said that their POF was not even counted or inspected. One or two people said that they were asked for the POF and the immigration officer counted to see if it was complete.
A few persons have used the mastercard as PART of their POF, and all of them said the immigration officer they saw did not raise an eyebrow.
I am yet to see anywhere on the CIC website FAQs where the mastercard was said to be acceptable or unacceptable.
First principle here, is that no two people have the same experience at the POE concerning landing.
Putting these together, I think (emphasis on think) thus:
The CIC has not specifically said they will not accept mastercard at the POE as a form of POF. All they have said is that your POF MUST BE ACCESSIBLE to you. We know that the mastercard brand is trusted worldwide, and our nigerian accounts are accessible to us through the mastercard, and I want to guess that the immigration officer at the POE should know that too.
Since some people have had the experience with mastercard, and are enjoying Canada now, I want to surmise that mastercard should be an acceptable POF. Let us bear in mind that POF instrument is not a specific. IT is a range in a continuum, which includes cash, drafts and travellers' cheques (and maybe mastercard). And looking at the whole immigration process, where everything is spelt out with guidelines every step of the way, I will doubt that something as important as POF would not have been spelt out with guidelines in the training of Immigration officers at the POE. The fact that people have passed with mastercard and sailed thru, should mean that it is acceptable in the range of POF instruments.
Having said all that, let me list the POF experience of some people on this forum, and what they have done. You might take a cue from some of them.
1. Most people carry cash. Amongst these people, some declare at the airport, and some don't declare. I will vehemently discourage not declaring at MMIA if you have over 10k dollars on you. Although some people get away with this, a) its breaking the law. b) if you're caught, there will be hell to pay.
OF THE PEOPLE THAT CARRY CASH, some split them between spouses. For example in your case, Collins, if you want to carry your $12,000 in cash, and you are travelling with your spouse, the wise thing will be to split it between the two of you. That way, you both carry what is below the declarable limit at all airports. Nobody will question you why you have $6,000 in cash on you. HOWEVER, NOTE THAT YOU WILL STILL HAVE TO DECLARE IT AT THE POE TO THE IMMIGRATION OFFICER. This is because, you as the principal applicant are the one carrying the POF, although it is split between you and your spouse. I STAND CORRECTED ON THIS MATTER.
2. People generally discourage carrying drafts of the money. This is actually the safest way to transit with such large amounts of money, as the draft, if stolen, is useless to whoever is daft enough to steal it. Why people discourage this, is because it might take up to 3 months to cash the draft. If you are patient enough for that, then, this is the absolute best way for you.
3. I haven't seen anyone who used travellers' cheques.
4. A few people have carried their POF part in cash and part using the Mastercard from one of the Nigerian banks. Of the few people I've read their experience, one had cash of up to $16,000 on him, which was just a little short of the POF, and told the immigration officer that rest is on his mastercard, and there were no further questions. Another person had less than $10k and there were also no further questions.
My submission is this: It is very risky to carry cash around like that. People do it, but for some of us fainthearted, its almost a no no. If you can wait for 3 months, your best bet is to cut a draft and travel with it. If you can't, carry cash and split the money into two and share between you and your spouse. You can also carry about $9k in cash and the rest on your mastercard.
And pray that you will meet the same immigration officers our other guys met at the POE ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
This post does not address the question of building a credit history in Canada, I don't have any thought on that. But I think what Colins was asking was just at the POE. it is however cheaper to shop with your mastercard over there, than buying Dollars from the black market at a higher rate and spending there in Canada. Your money is safer. And for people who want to first land and return to Nigeria before finally leaving, it is the best way to go. For people who have finally settled, or are not coming back in the short term, opening a bank account and building your credit history is very important.
PLS, OTHER PEOPLE SHOULD KINDLY COMMENT ON ALL I'VE POSTED ABOVE.
