Pending K1 - Visit ESTA - Work online

[ChristinaGr 0]

Hi all!

 

I would like to schedule in a while my travel to USA (incuding a 14 day quarantine - second time i will do that...) but this time I want to stay longer of course under 90 days and 180 days per year have not been reached. We have started the K-1 and received NOA 1 few days ago.

 

My questions are the following:

 

1- If in general is ok having the ESTA to work for my normal work online as employee of the greek company? My employer is ok with that but not sure if for US is illegal?

 

2- As my work is online anyway now with covid and actually i will not take many days off how i will prove that i have no intention to stay in US regarding the job part? I can have my work contract, is that enough? (of course will have air train tickets for my return back at home, proofs of relationship etc etc.)

 

Any advices?

 

Thank you in advance!

 

Best

Christine

 

 

 

[igoyougoduke 1,675]

1) No you cannot work in USA without work authorization. it does not matter if your employer is in Greece or Ireland 

 

2) Good luck explaining to CBP about online job + K1 + visiting US for 90+ days.

[geowrian 22,338]

VWP entry is 90 days status flat, determined at each entry.

 

1) Gray area of tax and immigration law if it is actually legal or not. Laws have not been updated to cover remote work for foreign employers.

That said, CBP does not need to prove it is unauthorized. They only need to suspect that you would be working in the US illegally to deny entry.

One may wonder how somebody could fly to another country for 14+ days then plan to stay for what sounds like 1-2+ months without a source of ongoing income.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

 

2) Your VWP-country passport would be your strongest evidence to return home on time.

Edited October 9, 2020 by geowrian

[ChristinaGr 0]

Oh thank god I thought to ask! Gotcha... there is no way to risk it then. Thank you so much both for your time

 

Regarding the 90 days+ no intention for that anyway, I meant my visit this time will be longer than previous one. I wanted like 30 days respecting the ESTA rules that anyway are 90 days in one visit but anyway seems  a big no no so..

 

So is ok i will think to do it short like the previous one and take my remaining vacation time which is 2 weeks (and maybe few days like 3 or 4 unpaid leave) and thats it.  Better than nothing

Edited October 9, 2020 by ChristinaGr

[JFH 12,191]

1 hour ago, ChristinaGr said:

Hi all!

 

I would like to schedule in a while my travel to USA (incuding a 14 day quarantine - second time i will do that...) but this time I want to stay longer of course under 90 days and 180 days per year have not been reached. We have started the K-1 and received NOA 1 few days ago.

 

My questions are the following:

 

1- If in general is ok having the ESTA to work for my normal work online as employee of the greek company? My employer is ok with that but not sure if for US is illegal?

 

2- As my work is online anyway now with covid and actually i will not take many days off how i will prove that i have no intention to stay in US regarding the job part? I can have my work contract, is that enough? (of course will have air train tickets for my return back at home, proofs of relationship etc etc.)

 

Any advices?

 

Thank you in advance!

 

Best

Christine

 

 

 

Proofs of relationship? What would they be and how would they support your claim that you are “just visiting”? Those with a love interest in the USA, especially a relationship serious enough where a marriage is being planned, are statistically the most likely to overstay. 
 

Planning a long stay and bringing a laptop, files, etc is only going to open a can of worms if you are flagged for secondary inspection. Don’t risk it. Personally I am of the school of thought that any work undertaken here without work authorization is illegal, regardless of whether the employer is here or there, regardless of how you are being paid, etc. And if you can work anywhere, how does your work contract demonstrate your intention to return? You will have a round-trip ticket as that is a basic requirement of the VWP. You won’t be able to even board your first plane here without that. Every single person that overstayed on the VWP had a return ticket. So you can see that CBP pay zero attention to that fact when you are trying to convince them you will not overstay. In over 40 VWP visits I was never asked once to show my return ticket to the CBP. They already knew I had one otherwise I would never have made it onto the plane. The return ticket is not even worth the paper it’s printed on for CBP. 

[ChristinaGr 0]

21 minutes ago, JFH said:

Proofs of relationship? What would they be and how would they support your claim that you are “just visiting”? Those with a love interest in the USA, especially a relationship serious enough where a marriage is being planned, are statistically the most likely to overstay. 
 

Planning a long stay and bringing a laptop, files, etc is only going to open a can of worms if you are flagged for secondary inspection. Don’t risk it. Personally I am of the school of thought that any work undertaken here without work authorization is illegal, regardless of whether the employer is here or there, regardless of how you are being paid, etc. And if you can work anywhere, how does your work contract demonstrate your intention to return? You will have a round-trip ticket as that is a basic requirement of the VWP. You won’t be able to even board your first plane here without that. Every single person that overstayed on the VWP had a return ticket. So you can see that CBP pay zero attention to that fact when you are trying to convince them you will not overstay. In over 40 VWP visits I was never asked once to show my return ticket to the CBP. They already knew I had one otherwise I would never have made it onto the plane. The return ticket is not even worth the paper it’s printed on for CBP. 

Thank you for your reply!

 

My contract doesnt refer online this is temporary due to covid but of course i cant and will not lie in any case if im asked for. I will be honest. For the laptop if i have to quarantine as well then i need it but good point may see it as red flag....I will have my days off then normaling signed and to the sytem we have and a letter. It will be a 2week travel as I cant take a lot of days off anyway. 

 

Proving my relationship I have all the photos with us, chats etc so I dont think i will have any issue. I will do a research.

 

Now proving that i dont want to overstay is really hard and subjective... i can have as well that I own a house to my name probably, also i have a very good job that Im over 10 years i mean why to risk stay illegaly in USA and risk the visa and be jobless? Also there is no intention to marry... I'm not even sure why people do that... but I guess this is not how they think... 

 

In any case i will not do anything illegal..dura lex sed lex.. I will search the forum to see what else will help. If is impossible to visit anyway then we will just be patient and wait one year to see each other..

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by ChristinaGr

[JFH 12,191]

13 minutes ago, ChristinaGr said:

Thank you for your reply!

 

My contract doesnt refer online this is temporary due to covid but of course i cant and will not lie in any case if im asked for. I will be honest. For the laptop if i have to quarantine as well then i need it but good point may see it as red flag....I will have my days off then normaling signed and to the sytem we have and a letter. It will be a 2week travel as I cant take a lot of days off anyway. 

 

Proving my relationship I have all the photos with us, chats etc so I dont think i will have any issue. I will do a research.

 

Now proving that i dont want to overstay is really hard and subjective... i can have as well that I own a house to my name probably, also i have a very good job that Im over 10 years i mean why to risk stay illegaly in USA and risk the visa and be jobless? Also there is no intention to marry... I'm not even sure why people do that... but I guess this is not how they think... 

 

In any case i will not do anything illegal..dura lex sed lex.. I will search the forum to see what else will help. If is impossible to visit anyway then we will just be patient and wait one year to see each other..

 

People abandon homes, jobs, even children when they come here as tourists and subsequently overstay. It does happen. It might be something you and I would never even consider doing, but it happens every day. The CBP Officer doesn’t know you from a bar of soap so he has no way of knowing whether you fall into the “I would never ever even consider doing that” group or the “that’s actually my plan” group. 
 

Your ties to home are what matter most. Your chats and photos might make for a nice show-and-tell but they harm your case that you are not planning to stay. You have to convince the officer why you will leave, not convince him of what made you come here in the first place.

[ChristinaGr 0]

10 minutes ago, JFH said:

People abandon homes, jobs, even children when they come here as tourists and subsequently overstay. It does happen. It might be something you and I would never even consider doing, but it happens every day. The CBP Officer doesn’t know you from a bar of soap so he has no way of knowing whether you fall into the “I would never ever even consider doing that” group or the “that’s actually my plan” group. 
 

Your ties to home are what matter most. Your chats and photos might make for a nice show-and-tell but they harm your case that you are not planning to stay. You have to convince the officer why you will leave, not convince him of what made you come here in the first place.

It's so oxymoron that for approving your visa you need to prove that your relationship is bona fide and of course you want to visit your partner  because you miss him/her (with all the difficulties covid, costs) and at the same time to prove that you will not overstay so is like they prevent you from visiting.. its like a vicious cycle! 

 

But I don't blame them and for me it would be difficult to determine without real proof and documentation, I was even shocked when started to see the visa proccess to find out the fraud levels, so some how they have to protect the borders, totally understandable and respectable. 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by ChristinaGr

[JFH 12,191]

It is indeed a struggle! So much so that I told my husband that when we got to the NVC I wasn’t going to visit anymore until I got my visa as I was concerned that I would be making a wasted journey. On the one hand, I would have to try and convince the officer I have no immigration intent but on the other hand we have sunk hundreds of dollars and many months into a filing for exactly that! So it’s a dilemma. 

[ChristinaGr 0]

17 minutes ago, JFH said:

It is indeed a struggle! So much so that I told my husband that when we got to the NVC I wasn’t going to visit anymore until I got my visa as I was concerned that I would be making a wasted journey. On the one hand, I would have to try and convince the officer I have no immigration intent but on the other hand we have sunk hundreds of dollars and many months into a filing for exactly that! So it’s a dilemma. 

Yes sure is! As it seems  to me now I will probably follow your approach but anyway I will not do anything in rush, i will do further reasearch, think about it and discuss it with my fiance. Is a long period so is hard but it is what it is.. and "good things come to those who wait"...

 

Also thank you so much all for your answers its really helpful, i would have done a big mistake without even realize it so is great help

Edited October 9, 2020 by ChristinaGr

[HRQX 4,145]

2 hours ago, ChristinaGr said:

(incuding a 14 day quarantine

In which country would you quarantine?

[jess.y 66]

Here’s my story, it may help you decide.

i submitted my application in March, went to visit my fiancée from June to August (two months). I entered the US via ESTA.

i obviously had no intention to overstay as I did have a life back home. I had gotten approval to work remotely during my trip. 
either way, they took me to the interview room. I was asked a bunch of questions about my life, my fiancée, my job, and visa application, etc. I answered honestly and then they searched my luggage. 
they eventually allowed me to enter the US but before leaving the officer said that it’s best I wait till I get my visa to visit again. 
 

While I think it’s only normal to want to visit and spend time with the person you’re MARRYING... they have their concerns and unfortunately they matter more. 

[ChristinaGr 0]

6 minutes ago, HRQX said:

In which country would you quarantine?

Previous time I did it in Serbia for 16 days, but I stayed in USA only 14 days plus we have not been officially engaged and had not started K-1. Now seems too risky so probably abort mission.

Edited October 10, 2020 by ChristinaGr

[ChristinaGr 0]

7 minutes ago, jess.y said:

Here’s my story, it may help you decide.

i submitted my application in March, went to visit my fiancée from June to August (two months). I entered the US via ESTA.

i obviously had no intention to overstay as I did have a life back home. I had gotten approval to work remotely during my trip. 
either way, they took me to the interview room. I was asked a bunch of questions about my life, my fiancée, my job, and visa application, etc. I answered honestly and then they searched my luggage. 
they eventually allowed me to enter the US but before leaving the officer said that it’s best I wait till I get my visa to visit again. 
 

While I think it’s only normal to want to visit and spend time with the person you’re MARRYING... they have their concerns and unfortunately they matter more. 

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I see.. yes seems like really risky. Unfortunately the procceeding times for visas do it even more difficult for all now but seems that have to be patient.. if there was not the 14 day quantine would be easier to risk it (unless if can affect the visa) but now spending 14 days to other country and deny entry is too painful

Edited October 10, 2020 by ChristinaGr

[SalishSea 18,096]

2 hours ago, ChristinaGr said:

Proving my relationship I have all the photos with us, chats etc so I dont think i will have any issue. I will do a research.

I think you're missing a very important point:  CBP doesn't care why you want to visit (your relationship).  They only care that you will leave.