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Stop, Look & Listen: Railroad Retirement Benefits Q&A

Answers are provided by Robert S. Kaufman

Direct Deposit For Benefits Paid to Canadians

(Posted January 1, 2002(Revised January 3, 2002))

Question 151: When will Railroad Retirees living in Canada be able to have their payments automatically deposited in a Canadian bank account?

Answer: The process you suggest is possible in theory today. But to actually set up an operational system will take the cooperation of several governmental and banking institutions in both the United States Canada. And there are comparatively few (less than 3,000) Railroad Retirement receiptants who live in Canada.

According to the Railroad Retirement Board, they are monitoring the Treasury Department's current international direct deposit process to see if at some point in the future, Railroad Retirement payments can be electronically sent to Canada & other foreign countries.

In the meantime, you may want to consider a couple of alternatives that accomplish the same end. You could open a bank account at a bank in the United States and then enroll in the existing direct deposit program. Or you could, with the cooperation of a Canadian bank, have you check mailed directly to the bank and deposited in your account automatically each month. The only downside is that all mail from the United States Railroad Retirement Board would also go to your bank.

Important notice:

Answers are provided as general guidance on the subjects covered in the question and are not provided as legal advice to the questioner or to readers. Any legal issues should be reviewed by your legal counsel to apply the law to the particular facts of this and similar situations.

The law in this area changes frequently. Answers are believed to be correct as of the posting dates shown. The completeness or accuracy of a particular answer may be affected by changes in the law (statutes, regulations, rulings, court decisions, etc.) that occur after the date on which a particular Q&A is posted.