MissGigl

Hi all,

Last fall my husband was refused entry on the VWP at Dulles. We are
now going through DCF with Paris and his interview is scheduled for
April 20.

In the entry refusal interview at Dulles they asked the last time he
worked and he said he worked for 2 weeks in May (when he was in
France) and also they asked if he had permission to work in the US and
he replied "I was working on the Internet".

The situation was that he was doing work for a Romanian company from
France
in May, and then continued the project when he was in the US via the
Internet
(he was building a database/data entry from my house.) He was paid in
July for this work in 2 payments of $2500 each by Western Union from
Romania. That money was deposited into our joint Citibank account
here in the US.

So, we want to clarify a few questions about this:

1. Would BCIS consider this situation "working in the US" and a
violation of
the VWP?

2. At his interview, will Paris have a copy of the interview from the
refusal and if so, will they be asking him any questions about it/use
it to
consider/refuse approval?

3. Will they be checking his tax records for 2003 (due in April but
he'll be filing late)?

Hopefully I'm being excessively paranoid, but can you see any reason
that I
should prepare a 601 form to bring to the interview in case we need to
file
for an exception?

Thank you!

Eoin

The fact the money came into the US to an account with his name on it
implies he worked in the US - although that deposit COULD have been for
you alone and not him

If it had gone into an account in France I would have said no.

I am not an accountant or a lawyer so take this with a grain of salt.


MissGigl wrote:
    > Hi all,
    >
    > Last fall my husband was refused entry on the VWP at Dulles. We are
    > now going through DCF with Paris and his interview is scheduled for
    > April 20.
    >
    > In the entry refusal interview at Dulles they asked the last time he
    > worked and he said he worked for 2 weeks in May (when he was in
    > France) and also they asked if he had permission to work in the US and
    > he replied "I was working on the Internet".
    >
    > The situation was that he was doing work for a Romanian company from
    > France
    > in May, and then continued the project when he was in the US via the
    > Internet
    > (he was building a database/data entry from my house.) He was paid in
    > July for this work in 2 payments of $2500 each by Western Union from
    > Romania. That money was deposited into our joint Citibank account
    > here in the US.
    >
    > So, we want to clarify a few questions about this:
    >
    > 1. Would BCIS consider this situation "working in the US" and a
    > violation of
    > the VWP?
    >
    > 2. At his interview, will Paris have a copy of the interview from the
    > refusal and if so, will they be asking him any questions about it/use
    > it to
    > consider/refuse approval?
    >
    > 3. Will they be checking his tax records for 2003 (due in April but
    > he'll be filing late)?
    >
    > Hopefully I'm being excessively paranoid, but can you see any reason
    > that I
    > should prepare a 601 form to bring to the interview in case we need to
    > file
    > for an exception?
    >
    > Thank you!

Folinskyinla

Hi:

An excellent question. This is a gray area which has sparked debate among immigration lawyers.

I would reveal the facts and give a caveat that you don't know if this is considered "working in the US".

Mtravelkay

MissGigl wrote:
    > Hi all,
    >
    > Last fall my husband was refused entry on the VWP at Dulles. We are
    > now going through DCF with Paris and his interview is scheduled for
    > April 20.
    >
    > In the entry refusal interview at Dulles they asked the last time he
    > worked and he said he worked for 2 weeks in May (when he was in
    > France) and also they asked if he had permission to work in the US and
    > he replied "I was working on the Internet".
    >
    > The situation was that he was doing work for a Romanian company from
    > France
    > in May, and then continued the project when he was in the US via the
    > Internet
    > (he was building a database/data entry from my house.)

This certainly sounds like he was working in the US. Where the money
comes is not the point. If he was physically doing this in the US, in
the way you described it, then he was "working in the US", and is
subject paying US income tax. I believe there was at least one Tax Court
ruling on this. I don't know if USCIS would view it the same way.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I wouldn't be too sure about it. Actually, the fact that the money was sent to him while in the US and was deposited into a US account would be ONE indicia of work "in" the US.

When it comes to internet work, it can get to be a gray area. Internet work aside -- posit a foreign business executive who takes a trip to the US for a vacation -- however, he packs his laptop and cell phone and keeps in touch with the home office -- doing his memos, reviewing stuff, etc etc -- is he "working" in the US.

A little OT, when I used to appear a lot beofre the US Embassy in Seoul, the Korean consulate was concerned about whether I would be "employed" in Korea or not -- I expalined that I would be working IN the embassy but that work OUTISDE fo the embassy [meeting with clients, telephone calls, messages via e-mail] would be ancillary to the inside work. What they seemed MOST concerned about was that I was not soliciting or collecting fees in Korea.

Mattias Hembruch

In article <[email protected]>,
Folinskyinla <member4043@british_expats.com> wrote:
    >Originally posted by Mtravelkay
    >>
    >>
    >> This
    >certainly sounds like he was working in the US. Where the money
    >> comes
    >is not the point. If he was physically doing this in the US, in
    >> the
    >way you described it, then he was "working in the US", and is
    >> subject
    >paying US income tax. I believe there was at least one Tax Court
    >ruling on this. I don't know if USCIS would view it the same way.
    >
    >Hi:
    >I wouldn't be too sure about it. Actually, the fact
    >that the money was sent to him while in the US and was deposited into a
    >US account would be ONE indicia of work "in" the US.
    >When it comes to
    >internet work, it can get to be a gray area. Internet work aside --
    >posit a foreign business executive who takes a trip to the US for a
    >vacation -- however, he packs his laptop and cell phone and keeps in
    >touch with the home office -- doing his memos, reviewing stuff, etc etc
    >-- is he "working" in the US.

So, if I agree to a contract for a company in Canada (for whom I have worked
before), receive payment in $CAN to a Canadian account...

But, I happen to telecommute from the US while on a K-1 (when I "should"
have EAD before marriage) - is that just as gray, more gray or less gray?

Mattias

Tero Paananen

    > This certainly sounds like he was working in the US. Where the money
    > comes is not the point. If he was physically doing this in the US, in
    > the way you described it, then he was "working in the US", and is
    > subject paying US income tax. I believe there was at least one Tax Court
    > ruling on this. I don't know if USCIS would view it the same way.

Whatever IRS thinks is immaterial as to if immigration
laws were violated or not, which was what the question
was about.

The work authorization papers USCIS grants for immigrants
apply only to working for US employers within the United
States. In a literal interpretation, since the employer was
not a US company, he did not need work authorization from
USCIS, but then I'm not a lawyer.

You really should ask a lawyer, and don't settle for a
yes/no answer. Ask the lawyer to explain why s/he feels
the yes/no answer applies.

-TPP