Working for a Canadian client before EAD

[Keisha 0]

I would greatly appreciate if anybody knows something about this.

I've just moved to the US from Canada on K1 day ago, we will get married in a couple weeks.

In Canada I used to do a part-time self-employed work - all on the phone for a Canadian client-company, calling their Canadian clients. They would like me to continue working for them.

I don't have the EAD for the US yet, but I have a work authorisation to work in Canada.

Could I keep working for a Canadian client, get the payment to my Canadian bank in CDN funds, pay taxes in Canada?

Everything is in Canada, only I am and the phone are in the US.

Until what time I could pay taxes in Canada for this kind of job?

Would I need to be their employee?

Will the fact of marriage change anything or not?

[Keisha 0]

Just called USCIS customer service....I can't do anything until I get my EAD.....even self-employed, even on the phone..NOTHING...that sucks. And this is so stupid.

Edited July 24, 2007 by Keisha

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Just called USCIS customer service....I can't do anything until I get my EAD.....even self-employed, even on the phone..NOTHING...that sucks. And this is so stupid.

Already responded in your other thread... with little info, but a lot of good vibes!

Edited July 24, 2007 by Len_and_Bren

[Keisha 0]

Just called USCIS customer service....I can't do anything until I get my EAD.....even self-employed, even on the phone..NOTHING...that sucks. And this is so stupid.

Already responded in your other thread... with little info, but a lot of good vibes!

Thanks Len and Bren, I got the reply. Even online or on the phone, they said. Were surprised that the POE (Vancouver airport) refused to put the work author. stamp on my I-94.

Good luck to you! Fly through JFK!

[thermophile 0]

Sounds like whoever you talked to at CIS just went with the kneejerk "No" without bothering to actually understand the rules

[Lance27 19]

From what I read over at the EI threads K1s are work authorized so I would speak to one of them for any advise they can provide on starting to work.

Good luck

[Reba 2]

If you are living on US soil, whether working for a Canadian employer or German or or or, you are not authorised to work until you have your EAD.

And as a Canadian, it will do you no good to fly through JFK airport, because you pre-clear US customs and immigration on the Canadian side of the border, not US.

[G&A 1]

I would greatly appreciate if anybody knows something about this.

I've just moved to the US from Canada on K1 day ago, we will get married in a couple weeks.

In Canada I used to do a part-time self-employed work - all on the phone for a Canadian client-company, calling their Canadian clients. They would like me to continue working for them.

I don't have the EAD for the US yet, but I have a work authorisation to work in Canada.

Could I keep working for a Canadian client, get the payment to my Canadian bank in CDN funds, pay taxes in Canada?

Everything is in Canada, only I am and the phone are in the US.

Until what time I could pay taxes in Canada for this kind of job?

Would I need to be their employee?

Will the fact of marriage change anything or not?

You may not want to do that anyways depending on your tax bracket and province. Keeping your job in canada (even thought you are not physically present in canada) MAY cause you to remain a tax resident of canada (has nothing to do with immigration). You would be responsible for paying canadian taxes.

A

[vanee 13]

Sounds like whoever you talked to at CIS just went with the kneejerk "No" without bothering to actually understand the rules

Could you explain?

Another member here told me that if we're self-employed and Canadian, we're working for a Canadian employer, which is allowed in the US without work authorization. We are work authorized in Canada, and our employers are Canadian, not American.

However, I was talking with another Canadian at a conference in the US recently, and he told me that Canadians aren't allowed to do any work to earn money in the US without the right work authorization. He was asked when he entered the US for the conference if he'd be working while in the US. Working (networking) at the conference didn't count because he wasn't directly earning money there, but apparently doing work that he earns money for wouldn't have been allowed.

OTOH, when I entered the US for 2 2-month stays, I told the border guards that I work at a computer and can work from anywhere with Internet access, and they didn't have problems with that.

The answer appears to depend on who you talk to.

[misa 2]

Hey vanee, Zyggy cleared it up in another thread... can't work without authorisation.

[misa 2]

Here's a few more questions that maybe someone can clear up. Is the EAD required dependent on where the work takes place or where the person is living? Because as a K3, I could go back and work in Canada on Canadian soil but still be living here, correct? (not that I plan on it, just curious)

Another question for someone related to K1s. If they are technically work authorised for 90 days upon entry, and as I understand it the EAD stamp is required only by U.S. employers due to the requirements on the I-9, couldn't a K1 continue to work for a Canadian employer for the first 90 days then after their I-94 expires stop working until they get their EAD or GC?

[Caladan 19]

I'd be interested to know how the location of the *work* affects things. If I am working for a U.S. employer and while on vacation in Montreal I send a couple work-related e-mails, I don't need work authorization, because I'm not employed in Canada, you know?

So the question is how to handle telecommuting or work-from-home sorts of arrangements.

[Reba 2]

Its dependent on several things, where you are now considering your primary residence, where the work is coming from, and where you're actually doing the work.

As a K1 visa holder, once you get to the US, your primary residence is the US. You cannot wok until/unless you have employment authorization, even if you are working for a non-US company.

I'm not sure if the 90 days temporary work authorization is actually valid unless you get the work stamp at the border.

As it was explained to me when I was being interrogated for crossing the border for work 6 (or so?) years ago, if you are in the US to work, you have to have a US work permit. Whether you are being paid by a US company, or a Canadian company doesn't matter, you are in the US and working, so you have to have US authorization. I was working and being paid by a Canadian wholly owned sub of a US company, and was doing some contracting at our US offices for a week here and there. I was going back and forth often enough that they finally denied me entry and barred me from entering for business purposes until I got a visa. I could still enter for vacation though, but I got grilled every time I tell ya!

If you are a K3 however, you can still go back and forth, so you can keep your job in Canada, work in Canada, and then wait for your US EAD before you get a job in the US. BUT, you cannot telecommute to your Canadian job while living in the US.

Even my uncle got into trouble with this at the border one time. He's a lawyer and was going down to Florida for holidays and brought a few case files with him. The border officials said nope, you can't work in the US, doesn't matter if it is not for US clients. He had to turn around, take the files home and then try again. Luckily they were driving and only an hour and a half from the border. This was about 15 years ago even!

While it is unlikely that US immigration would ever find out that you are telecommuting to a Canadian job before you get your EAD, they still *might* find out, and this could negatively affect your AOS. Personally, I wouldn't chance it, but that's just me.

[jonandmary 0]

It was my understanding as long as you are employed in Canada and paid in Canada that it is legal. I believe large international corporations do this often - I am unsure of the specific restrictions. In fact I was really hoping my Fiance could do something similar while we wait for the green card to be processed. If you want to get technical she would not be employed in the US. A part of this process may be a special work visa that the company would obtain for the employee (unsure?).

Granted immigration law is so confusing it will never be cut and dry - but I am going off of what my friends at Customs/Border Protection have told me.

[misa 2]

As it was explained to me when I was being interrogated for crossing the border for work 6 (or so?) years ago, if you are in the US to work, you have to have a US work permit. Whether you are being paid by a US company, or a Canadian company doesn't matter, you are in the US and working, so you have to have US authorization. I was working and being paid by a Canadian wholly owned sub of a US company, and was doing some contracting at our US offices for a week here and there. I was going back and forth often enough that they finally denied me entry and barred me from entering for business purposes until I got a visa. I could still enter for vacation though, but I got grilled every time I tell ya!

This is interesting because my previous workplace (Canada-wide firm) has one U.S. subsidary office in Chicago. They often send some of the IT folks down there to do work and to work in the Chicago office sometimes for a few weeks at a time. No one ever had to get a work permit and no one ever got hassled. Maybe they just weren't going down frequently enough to have raised a red flag?