RandomlySet

Hi all,

I live in the UK, and am a UK citizen. I've been wanting to moved to USA for sometime (would love NYC, and also Arizona).

Anyway, I've been talking with a UK company who have expanded into the US (Wall Street to be exact). They know I want to be out there, and are happy for that. Although, they are talking to some US based people about filling jobs in their new NYC office.

So, long story short, if I was to get the job with the UK company, how would I go about working in NYC? Could I not travel back and forth between NYC/UK until I had a visa approved? Or would I solely have to work with them in the UK until I get a visa?

It also leads to "how do they manage trade shows etc"? Again, part of their growth has involved them attending trade shows etc. Is this not classed as working - even if it's only for a week (if that)?

Guindalf

You would have to be working for the UK firm for at least a year before they can apply for an L-1A visa on your behalf. The application is made in April to start working in October, so it would be 2018 before they could apply for you.

You are not allowed to work on ESTA, period, so no, you couldn't travel back and forth. You would be working in the UK for that year.

You are allowed to visit for trade shows and training, so as long as you say so to the CBP officer when you enter, no problem.

ian-mstm

You have conflated the requirements for 2 different visas... an L-1 visa and an H-1B visa. Once the guy has worked for the UK firm for a year, the L visa can be applied for at any time. If he pursues an H-1B visa, the application must be submitted on April 1 for work starting October 1... and both would be in 2017, not 2018!


Umm... to clarify, he most certainly can travel on ESTA. He can't work... but he can certainly travel.


If he was pursuing an L visa, any time spent in the US must be added to the 1 year requirement. So, if he spent 6 weeks in the US (6 trips of 1 week each, for example), he'd need to work for the UK company a total of 1 year + 6 weeks before being eligible to transfer.

Ian

Noorah101

You need to work for the UK company, in the UK, for at least one full year before they can do an L-1 visa for you. If you come to the USA for a trade show, they add that time into the year.

You are allowed to attend trade shows on the VWP.

Rene

Pulaski

There are a variety of business-related tasks he can perform too - such as attending conferences, management meetings, meeting clients, sales calls/ presentations, giving or receiving training, etc. .... He just can't "work" on either an ESTA/VWP or B-1/B-2 visit.

Also visiting the US frequently early in the year before relocating to the US around the middle of the year is going to make for a complicated tax return as the periods when he is visiting are, I think going to get added to the period after he moves to the US for the purposes of calculating his taxes.

Guindalf

Right. Thanks, Ian. I always get the two confuzzled!


As Pulaski states, there are certain business-related actions that are allowed on ESTA like training, attending meetings and/or trade shows, but no actual 'work'.

Nutmegger

If this is a UK company, would the E-2 manager visa be appropriate? Not sure if there are any prior employment provisos for that.

Pulaski

Good suggestion! There are no prior employment strings attached to an.E-2, and in fact your first day working for the company could be in the US (we have one fairly active BE member who did exactly that).

The nationality of the employee must be the same as the country of registration of the parnet company, so in this case, the OP must be British (dual nationality is allowed), AND the parent company must be a company registered in England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

RandomlySet

That's what a lot of the work would entail. Meeting clients and finding solutions to their problems, or simply show them how to do x y and z

Pulaski

In which case you will be treading a very fine line between what is and is not permitted. For example, while pretty much everything a business consultant does is permitted under the VWP or B-1/B-2 (the rules are identical), a business consultant cannot "work" in the US on the VWP or a B-1/B-2.

pejp

I never understood the distinction between working and just visiting. Before I moved to the US, I would pretty frequently travel from the London office to the NYC office to work for a week, and only ever did vwp (this was before ESTA). All my colleagues did the same whenever they'd go there too. Was that wrong? Technically, are you supposed to have a visa even if just visiting the office for a week?

Noorah101

For working at the office, yes.

For a visit to the office but doing no work, no


Rene

Pulaski

Yes, unless by "working" you mean "attending conferences, management meetings, meeting clients, sales calls/ presentations, giving or receiving training, etc."

If your job was as a draughtsman then you shouldn't have been drawing or designing anything.

pejp

I used to basically just do my job in London, but from the NY office for a week, a couple of times a year. It was more of a way to just spend time with the team. I don't know of anyone from the London office who ever got a visa to work from the NY office. I guess it's one of those rules which are pretty tough to enforce in practice. I guess it would have been covered by 'giving or receiving training'

Pulaski

I did the same things myself once, nearly 20 years ago. I didn't know any better at the time, and you are correct, in practice it is just about impossible to enforce in practice.