Rob_999

Hi

I'm a Brit with Canadian permanent residency living in Vancouver, BC.

I've got an opportunity to consult for a US company next year. The work will mainly be done from Vancouver, with about 25% of my time in the US at their head office for meetings & updates etc. The contract is only short term, probably be for 6mths max.

Do I need a US Visa to do this? The company has no Canadian entities or offices, everything is in the US.

They do have a related Canadian company (both owned by the same US parent co) that I could do this work thorough if necessary, but thats complex and I want to avoid if possible.

Thanks for your help!
Rob

NC Penguin

Are you an employee of the the company that is sending you to consult in the US or are you an independent contractor?

I would have thought that if you are an employee, your employer would be responsible for sorting out any visa issues relating to you working in the US.

I am also moving your thread to the appropriate immigration related forum.

Rob_999

No - I'll be working as an independent contractor. I know plenty of Canadian's who do this, just not quite sure at what point I'm crossing the line of working in Canada for a US compnay, to working in the US & needing a visa?

meauxna

As soon as you cross the border. If you do 'work' in the US, you need the right visa.
Business visits are different from 'work' but you should probably get a little crash course from an immigration attorney and your own research before you go anywhere. No matter what anyone tells you, you'll be the one to have the consequences.

Rob_999

So how does a "business trip" differ from "work".

To give you a bit more background - I work in finance, the company I work for has gone through a lot of restructuring and as such my job is relocating to the US. I am helping them through the transition to recruit and train my replacement - I have a huge amount of knowledge on this business as I pretty much set the whole thing up.

Right now I'm assisting them as an employee through the Canadian company that initially set up the business, however this is going to be wound down at the end of the year.

The company still needs me to assist with the transition, probably for only a couple of months, but possible up to 6 mths. The aim was to do this as an independent contractor. I could probably get away with doing everything from Canada if I really had to, but they'll expect me to be in the US at least once or twice.

Right now when I cross the border I explain I work for XYZ co, which is Canadian, and I'm visiting ABC a US co. Never had a problem, or even raised an eye brow. Most business trips are for about 3 days.....

When I look at the substance of what I'm doing / planning to do it feels fine. But I really don't want to do anything illegal....

ian-mstm

In the first, you are setting the ground work for revenue... in the second, you are actually generating revenue.


I'm not surprised you never had a problem... you told the officer you were *visiting* when, from what you've said, you were actually working. So... Can you get away with working? Yes. Will you get away with it? Well... that's the tricky part, eh?

Ian

Rob_999

Ok - so what visa do I need? This is a little insane but I'll jump through the necessary hoops. It's for maybe 10 days "work" in the US.

meauxna

That's why you need to consult with a lawyer; this may or may not be a sufficient place for you to get information (the differences have been discussed here in the past if you want to do some digging).

I agree with Ian that saying that you are 'visiting' a company will get you into the US, but it may not be correct.
There may be more than one visa that suits your needs. Again, IMO you need some professional advice.

ian-mstm

If it was me, I'd take a look at a B1/B2 visa. There are other visas that'll do the trick for you, but the B1/B2 is probably the best place to start.

Ian

Rob_999

Thanks - I'll check out the B1/B2 visa and take it from there.

fatbrit

You may reach a stage where you find there isn't a visa for what you want to do.

JAJ

He is already using the visa waiver program, presumably, so that covers activities allowed on B1/B2 status.