Hi,
I am retired and in receipt of a company pension. My wife is still working and will be for several years yet.
We are about to purchase a holiday home in Florida.
My wife works from home and her job means she can work anywhere (as long as there is internet access).
Her company are perfectly happy with her working from US just as long as she does her job.
She will still be on the UK company payroll, her salary will be paid into her UK bank and we will still have our house cars and substantial ties in the UK.
We can provide proof of income and savings.
We wish to stay out in Florida for around 5 months of the UK winter and would rather stay in one go than travel via ESTA vwp and pay for two sets of flights.
Will this be possible on a B2 visa or are they likely to think she will try and work in the US if they see her works computer in our luggage?
Any suggestions for making a B2 application.

No. A B-2 holder is not allowed to work for any company (either in the USA or abroad) while physically inside the USA.

Rene

Thanks Noorah that knocks that idea on the head!!

Don't bother if her being able to work is a deal breaker.

This is one of those questions for which there is no clear answer. The underlying question is what is the "situs" of the job? In my mind, I think that length of time might be the key issue here. I think that the government has no problem with a person on holiday doing on-line work for the overseas employer while lounging in the sun for a week or two. But the five months?

One of the problems is that much of the regulations were written back before remote work was common.

Arriving with a laptop is not going to cause any suspicious questions (who doesn't travel with an army of electronics these days?).

You are confusing getting away with it with legality.

If you get caught you could be deported and prohibited from ever returning to the US. The IRS will also want to speak with you. You might get away with it, but getting caught could get very ugly.

No. I was just answering the OP's question of "Are they likely to think she will try and work in the US if they see her works computer in our luggage?"

... the answer to which is very likely no, since everyone travels with a computer these days.

Yes indeed. I was not in any way suggesting the OP break da rules. I was answering a specific part of his question.

However, if one was to go ahead and break the law and work here while on a B2, I am wondering how it would actually be possible to physically get caught, practically speaking, since a person has no SSN and no requirement to file taxes?

Remembering that lying to a federal officer is a crime, how would you answer the business or pleasure purpose of visit question?

You are mistaken. The requirement to file taxes with the IRS is based on physical presence in the US (or US citizenship), and has nothing to do with having a SSN. ..... If you are required to file taxes and do not have an SSN you simply apply for a TIN.

So a B2 visa holder is required to file taxes in the US?

It was not clear but in my previous post I was not linking the SSN with being obliged to pay taxes. I was just saying a b2 holder has no SSN.

If they work in the US, yes, absolutely, or if they are physically present in the US for more than 183 days in any one year. If the B2 visa, or VWP, is used as intended, for visits and business meetings, then no tax would be payable.

It is a long established principal of law in both the US and the UK that just because work/ trade is illegal it does not relieve the obligation to pay taxes on the income/ profit. Prime examples of such illegal activity include prostitution and drug trafficking.

OK. Understood, was not aware of the requirements of B2 so thanks for sharing.

But the person's job is not illegal (unlike prostitution and trafficking) so she would, in theory, be paying tax legally in the UK if she *chose* to break the law and worked in the US for her UK company while here on a B2 visa.

So the issue is that she'd then be required, by US law, to declare the income earned while here in the US right, even if she stayed for less than 183 days. And this is where it would become tricky?

Folinsky's comment about the rules being written before online working was common is very interesting and makes a lot of sense.