Keeping Canadian job until EAD received

[Amanda and Evan 0]

Hi all,

My fiance received his K1 visa and will be moving here soon. He's been dealing with his Canadian employer for a while about moving here. He works from home online. Today, they told him that he would have to take a "sabbatical" for a few months until he got his EAD. It was our understanding that he could continue to work from home as long as he worked for a Canadian company and was paid in Canadian dollars into his Canadian bank account.

Does anyone have any experience with this situation? Thank you!

[lost_at_sea 995]

Hi all,

My fiance received his K1 visa and will be moving here soon. He's been dealing with his Canadian employer for a while about moving here. He works from home online. Today, they told him that he would have to take a "sabbatical" for a few months until he got his EAD. It was our understanding that he could continue to work from home as long as he worked for a Canadian company and was paid in Canadian dollars into his Canadian bank account.

Does anyone have any experience with this situation? Thank you!

I think that's fine - but when he transfers earnings to his US accounts, he'll get taxed on that. You might want to consult a tax accountant to find out what's best (or his company may have someone in HR/Accounts who can advise). There's nothing illegal about working for another country, but you'll need to make sure you're on the right side of declaring income.

[Rob & Monika 87]

I think that's fine - but when he transfers earnings to his US accounts, he'll get taxed on that. You might want to consult a tax accountant to find out what's best (or his company may have someone in HR/Accounts who can advise). There's nothing illegal about working for another country, but you'll need to make sure you're on the right side of declaring income.

Not entirely true, there are lots of threads here discussing this, like this one: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/271056-us-pr-living-in-usa-commuting-daily-to-work-in-canada/

The EAD is authorization to work in the US for a US company. Working for Canada from the US is not an issue. However, if he's working for a big company that has offices in the US and Canada, and their policy is to transfer his personnel file to the US branch, then you might be stuck unless they can keep him on his Canadian payroll until the EAD is complete.

[His karma 20]

I have a neighbor who is doing the opposite. They moved to Canada but she works for a US company. She works from home and they deposit her American paycheck into an american bank account in the US so she never had to stop working. As long as they deposit the money into a Canadian account and keep him on Canadian Payroll and not transfer to an American branch, he should be fine.

[Rob & Monika 87]

I have a neighbor who is doing the opposite. They moved to Canada but she works for a US company. She works from home and they deposit her American paycheck into an american bank account in the US so she never had to stop working. As long as they deposit the money into a Canadian account and keep him on Canadian Payroll and not transfer to an American branch, he should be fine.

Why can't it be transferred?

[Amanda and Evan 0]

Thanks for the responses. I wanted to follow up. I've received conflicting information, but the important thing is that my fiance's employer is not willing to allow him to work without the EAD, whether it's legal or not. That's something I hadn't considered when I researched this months ago. I suppose if we hadn't told his employer, we could have gotten away with it, but there's a difference between getting away with it and being legal. Fortunately, his employer is willing to wait.