"Working at home" in USA for foreign-sourced income

[BadCivilServant 10]

Hello, fellow VisaJourney members.

 

Well, what can I tell you? Filed in September for IR1 (green card) and still waiting....waiting...waiting...like that little Mac hourglass that keeps moving up and down. Or Windows stuck in an endless loop.

 

I'll get to the point here. I am Canadian and my wife is USC/Canadian. We thought we would be further along in the process by now than we are (that is, we thought I would have my NOA2 by now. Nope.). We gave notice on our apartment here in Niagara Falls, Ontario for the end of May due to to mold infestation, among other things. Week after next, I am moving my wife down to Orlando. She's going to stay in an AirBnB while she finds a house for us. After I drop her off and put "her" (our) belongings in storage, I'm coming back to The Falls to go back to work at my railway job and wait things out.

 

My wife is transferring to the Orlando branch of her employer (a "theme restaurant" chain). 

 

I have a leave of absence from work from May 6 through 19, and then paid vacation from May 27 to June 23. I have the opportunity to work in a telecommuting position (receiving inbound customer service calls) for the Canadian subsidiary of an American company. The position is theoretically based in Ontario, Canada, however the company is willing to allow me to perform the work from Orlando. I would be paid in Canadian dollars, in my Canadian bank account, from the Canadian subsidiary of the American company.

 

Would American law allow me to do this legally?

 

This is very frustrating because my wife will be all alone down in Orlando. She is diabetic, she has spina bifida and frankly she's nervous about being there alone. If I have the opportunity to wait things out with her down in Florida rather than leave her there alone, I'd rather do that.  I do know about the six-month rule. My through September would be four months. And between May, 2016 and May, 2017 we probably have spent nearly two months going back and forth between Canada and U.S.A. including our vacations and day-trips across the border (we do live in Niagara Falls). 

 

Thank you, again, fellow VisaJourney members. Happy Easter weekend and best wishes as always. 

Edited April 14, 2017 by BadCivilServant
typo

[mallafri76 1,012]

Your thoughts are to enter the US as a tourist and then set up a home and work for a Canadian company from the US until your interview?! Normally this is a grey area but in your case, I think it's not so grey and frankly, I wouldn't play around with it. Too much at stake. 

 

Why don't you apply for an expedite due to your wife's medical conditions? The worst that can happen is that you get no.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

If you were here on a k1 I would believe it to be ok.  However being here on a visitors visa I believe it's a violation 

[Teddy B 17,251]

This is definitely one of those gray areas where you will get different answers here on VJ, and honestly none of them are really wrong. There are members here who have been successful in having CBP allow them to "work remotely" from the US (my wife is one of them), and there are others who were told no by CBP. It seems to be on a person to person basis and depends on who the CBP officer is.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

8 minutes ago, Teddy B said:

This is definitely one of those gray areas where you will get different answers here on VJ, and honestly none of them are really wrong. There are members here who have been successful in having CBP allow them to "work remotely" from the US (my wife is one of them), and there are others who were told no by CBP. It seems to be on a person to person basis and depends on who the CBP officer is.

The fact that there's a US office is where it gets murky.  Any evidence found to do work down here if sent to secondary may be difficult 

[Teddy B 17,251]

10 minutes ago, Transborderwife said:

The fact that there's a US office is where it gets murky.  Any evidence found to do work down here if sent to secondary may be difficult 

The two keys to this according to the CBP officer that my wife spoke to upon entry is that you're not taking a job away from an American citizen and you're not getting paid in US funds. There is conflicting information to this right here on VJ as well, that's why I say it's on a person to person basis.

 

And yes, the fact that there's a US office could be a problem because that would make one think that this is a job that could be done by a USC.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Teddy B

[BadCivilServant 10]

2 minutes ago, Teddy B said:

The two keys to this according to the CBP officer that my wife spoke to upon entry is that you're not taking a job away from an American citizen and you're not getting paid in US funds. There is conflicting information to this right here on VJ as well, that's why I say it's on a person to person basis.

Based on Mallfri76's advice, we're going to make an Infopass appointment with the local USCIS office in Orlando and see if we can apply to expedite. I'll see what they say about the work at home idea. I just don't want to get in trouble just for asking.

[Villanelle 4,121]

Expedite request can be done on the phone, in person, or with the help of congressperson. Which ever route you choose you have to stick with it. Theres no mix and match with it. If you go in person dont ever expect to get results for inquiries over the phone. If you do it via phone/email if you do a walk in for help they wont know what youre talking about. So keep that in mind. Personally I would use the congressperson as they can somewhat help you put together a letter with evidence and will do most of the leg work.

 

Also- Do not ask at infopass whether you can work as a tourist. Thats just silly and you dont want to have weird notes (perhaps) end up in your file. 

 

Teddy is correct with everything he said. There are many posts on here about working remotely. The bottom line is there is an issue with the current laws being out of date. One part is written like you can (work remotely) another part is written like you can not. (unauthorized work is forgiven when you adjust through a USC- but you are not really adjusting in the US, you are getting a CR visa- so like Transborderwife said Im not sure either if its forgiven for CR purposes) Most people do the remote work and use the concept of "it will be forgiven" to make them feel like its going to be ok if they get loosely worded "caught"/

 

Previously I had been against anyone doing work, then I flipped to its okay... Now, Im just not sure.! lol

 

With the new administration things are changing- pretty quick too.. Nothings changed yet- the laws are still contradicting and unclear. Its unlikely that they will be clarified any time soon, but you never know. Theres also a very very little chance you will get "caught" and if "caught" be penalized for it. If you disclose the job it would be as a Canadian job you dont need to list out where the actual work was conducted.

 

If you need the income- do it. If you dont- take some time for yourselves!! Vacations in the US are hard to get. I dont know how it is in Canada but I know the Europeans that come here are always shocked at the unrelenting work schedules and lack of benefits like time off for pregnancy or just recharging vacation time.

[geowrian 22,335]

Lots of good advice  in this thread...

 

Personally, from my readings after seeing this type of issue pop up so often here, is that having a US branch + going for a visa vs AOS leads me to believe it would more likely than not be permitted. I won't get into the "it's unlikely to get caught" aspect...the way I view it is if you told a reasonable CBP officer your plans, would they be likely to permit entry? In this case, I think they would have cause to deny entry.

 

Just my $0.02. As noted above, it is still a gray area as the laws are outdated and unclear.

[BadCivilServant 10]

Thank you, everybody, for your advice. 

 

I'm going to use the "F" word here: frustrating. It truly is FRUSTRATING to stay within the rules. 

 

I'm going to err on the side of caution and not go with the telecommuting idea. It's not the matter of "not getting caught." If it's not perfectly legal, I don't want to do it. legal or not. And who knows when it may come back to haunt me later?

 

As for the insufferable delay, applying for an expedite with the USCIS would probably be a moot point since, after SEVEN MONTHS, the NOA2 ought to come soon. Right? One would think...

 

I'm going to stay with my wife in Orlando through May and June. My vacation pay will take me through early July and we can financially meet our obligations until September on my wife's meager salary and our savings. I didn't plan on coming back from my vacation and returning to my current job at the end of June. I still hope I don't have to.

 

All I can do is hope that, towards the end of May or June, there will be and end-game in sight (i.e. visa interview date in Montreal) and I can resign from my job. For the reasons stated in my original post, I really don't feel comfortable leaving my wife alone in Florida for weeks. Or months. But if this does drag on, then, yeah, I've got no choice but to leave her alone in Orlando, return to my job in Ontario at the end of June and basically send her my paycheck. 

 

Thank you, also, to the people behind VisaJourney for this invaluable resource. 

[bunkx 25]

There seems to be a lot of confusion around this still for some reason. Conceptually this is no different than responding to your work emails while on vacation in another country. You're not "employed" by a US company, you're not paying US taxes, you're not taking a job away from a USC. I've been an F-1 student since 2011 here, and have worked online through European and even Japanese companies. In both cases my income would be deposited into my Belgian bank account. If I transfer money from my Belgian account to my American acocunt, that's no different than my family sending me money. So, I don't see how and where a law is violated here. Even now, I'm working for a German company remotely, since I don't need a work permit to work for EU companies, this is perfectly legal. I'm also working for a Japanese company as a translator, but that's a little more tricky. 

 

Also, the fact that it's a US company makes no difference. You're working for the Canadian branch, hence not taking away jobs from Americans. They'd need a work permit or Canadian citizenship to work for the Canadian branch anyway.

 

Good luck with your wife, hope all goes well!

[pulp 0]

Hi guys, new to this forum but similar type question. And F for frustrating is again the word! So here's my story. I entered on a VISA Waiver from the UK and married a US spouse. I applied for change of status and my I-765 (EAD). I have been waiting 165 days and counting for this EAD. Then I found it had been tracked and delivered but I did not receive it. This means I have to reapply and wait at least another 90 days for my EAD. Which means being unemployed for almost 9 months.

 

I have a wife and 3 year old child and I can not afford to not work for another 3 months. My question is two-fold.

 

- Is there a way I could get USCIS to give me a letter or something that says I am authorised for employment, and my card is being reissued? So that I can work here.

 

- And if I can't do that. Can I work remotely for a UK company? As I said before, I am a UK citizen and was considering setting up my own company (becoming self-employed) so that I could do some freelance.

 

Would this be legal? Would you advise it? Or do you advise something else?

 

It can not be right that through no fault of my own I am not able to work here for 9 months, surely?

 

Thanks a lot for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

 

[Villanelle 4,121]

11 minutes ago, pulp said:

Hi guys, new to this forum but similar type question. And F for frustrating is again the word! So here's my story. I entered on a VISA Waiver from the UK and married a US spouse. I applied for change of status and my I-765 (EAD). I have been waiting 165 days and counting for this EAD. Then I found it had been tracked and delivered but I did not receive it. This means I have to reapply and wait at least another 90 days for my EAD. Which means being unemployed for almost 9 months.

 

I have a wife and 3 year old child and I can not afford to not work for another 3 months. My question is two-fold.

 

- Is there a way I could get USCIS to give me a letter or something that says I am authorised for employment, and my card is being reissued? So that I can work here.

 

- And if I can't do that. Can I work remotely for a UK company? As I said before, I am a UK citizen and was considering setting up my own company (becoming self-employed) so that I could do some freelance.

 

Would this be legal? Would you advise it? Or do you advise something else?

 

It can not be right that through no fault of my own I am not able to work here for 9 months, surely?

 

Thanks a lot for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

 

As far as I know USCIS is not going to give you anything that says you are employment authorized. They issue the card and if it gets lost or stolen you have to wait for the replacement card. 

 

As for working remotely- the answer is in this thread and many other threads about the topic. The laws are outdated and unclear. Nothing says you can do it 100%  and nothing says you absolutely can not. So its up to you. 

[pulp 0]

Thanks a lot Damara. What would you say is the general consensus on this then? Obviously I do not want to do anything to jeopardise my chances. But equally I need to work. Would you say that since I have already dutifully waited 160 days then I should have a good defence to now do this?

 

Also, if you or anyone can advise a good person to speak to about this in NY, that would be much appreciated! 

[Villanelle 4,121]

The consensus is mixed. People that know about the issue will simply state its a gray area. Its the people who are less informed that usually post declarative statements either for or against it. Since VJ has a policy to not condone or advise illegal activities its a gray area on VJ as well. Most people prefer to be safe then sorry so wont post encouragement of working remotely. 

 

My personal opinion is you do what you need to do. Is your wife a USC? If so unauthorized work is forgiven for you when adjusting. So worst case if they deem it unauthorized work youd still be okay. At some point congress is going to have to address the issue. But we all know how slow congress can be. Currently the issue isnt even on the table so to speak- so nothing is going to change in the immediate future (meaning clarification on the laws).