mathilda_wilde

Hey all,

This is my first post here. Please be kind!

I'm a uk citizen, working for a company who are going to be sending me over to the US shortly to spend between 6 months to a year there working temporarily for their US branch. I work in the media industry, and as well as having this job I am also trying working with some clients I have recently collaborated with (who are based all over the world) to do some freelance creative projects for them remotely. I haven't yet started this freelance work. The company I work for know about this and are fine with it.

My question is - am i legally able to complete these freelance assignments while I'm in America? With the info I've found on here this seems to be a grey area. And I also don't know if I should now register myself as self employed here in the UK (you can register self employment even if you have another full time job) before going to America, to prove that I will be paying my taxes, but in the UK if I do get any freelance jobs.

Can I even register for self employment if I don't currently have the freelance work, and may possibly not even get it? I'm just thinking ahead as a precaution. I was told that to register as self employed means I will still pay NI contributions here in the UK every month,even if I'm not getting any freelance work. I can't really afford this, especially if I won't be getting the freelance work.

Can anybody advise on any of this?

Thanks!

Michael

Whenever you enter the US on a non immigrant visa, you are restricted to perform the job for the company that is defined in that visa. I suspect they will be getting you a L1 visa (company transfer) and that restricts your activities for that company to that specific job. Only until you get a green card or become a US citizen can you work in the US at any job desired including multiple jobs and self employment jobs for any local and/or foreign companies.

So the answer is NO, you can not work as an independent contractor in the US whether the clients are local or foreign.

ian-mstm

No.


It's not... you can't.

Ian

mathilda_wilde

thanks cat and dog.

no i'll be going on the media visa - the I visa. which is press related.

so if i had my own business in the uk i'd have to close it down before i got to america?

mathilda_wilde

and what if i do freelance work before i go to the states but the payment only comes in when i'm there?

also, this work was to be completed with a collective of people. i have the contacts so i organise it, i wouldn't necessarily physically have to do the work if i wasn't allowed to. but i'm part of i'd also receive some of the money. this wouldn't be allowed either?

and yeah it seems to be a grey area with what i've read a lot of places online with people living their lives similar to this. some say it depends on this this and this, and some say flat out no. certain disallowances are a bit drastic i think, they don't seem logical. and it's hard to tell exactly what you can and can't do with this explained in a sentence or so on the government websites.

mathilda_wilde

PS - if that's your dog it's amazing. AWWWW!

caleyjag

It's not that grey of an area actually.

You are making it grey for yourself by trying to search for loopholes.

The basic premise, as described above, is very black-and-white.

You can only legally work for the company that sponsors your visa. You can't legally do any work outwith that function until you eventually get your green card (which will take many years.)

Getting paid for previous work is irrelevant - it's performing the work while physically in the US that is the bit that will be illegal.

Nobody on this site is ever going to advise you that it's okay to work on the side. Do people get away with it? Almost certainly. Is it legal? Definitely not.




On a side note, working remotely from the US for clients in the UK is still illegal even if you get paid in the UK. Of course it's not for us to predict if you would ever be caught, but it's still illegal to conduct work of any sort while physically in the US that isn't tied to your visa sponsor.

Bob

If you don't have authorisation to work in the US, even if the company is based else where or the money gets paid else where, it will be you who gets in the shit, not the company.

So basically the simple answer is, the company get you a L1 visa if you qualify and have worked for them over a year, to work for the US branch.

No, you'll not be doing the freelance work on the side.

Bob

Some things can be a grey area. But if it is work, and you organising things sounds very much like work to me, then no, you can't do it.

You're also going to make things more complicated with regards to the IRS for tax purposes as the US likes its slice of worldwide income, certainly with the filing as there is a duel tax treaty to prevent double taxation.

Bob

And where you're likely to get caught out on doing it is if you pursue a greencard in the future, listing work experience and any tax filings.

Michael

Actually that might be a grey area since you are not working in the US but ask an immigration lawyer. May not be an issue if your are classified as a resident for tax purposes (unlikely due to the short term assignment) since the US taxes on worldwide income but you use foreign tax credit to offset and taxes owed.

You will likely be classified as a non resident alien which only tax you on your US income and doesn't consider foreign income but you can't use foreign tax credits. Since the income is from a foreign source for work performed before you arrived in the US, I suspect that would not be included as US income and should be allowed but check with a tax accountant.

Once you become involved in any way with a business that is not authorized by your visa while on that visa, that is a problem area and not authorized even though it is foreign. However you could possibly go back on your own time for a couple of weeks and work if you want but not from US soil but then again, only an immigration lawyer would know for sure.

scrubbedexpat099

I Visa seems very restrictive:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/ty...es_1276.html#9

Noorah101

This really made me smile, very cute.

You are allowed to own a business in the UK while you're in the USA. You just can't do any work for it while you're physically inside the USA. No need to close it down. Just save the work to do when you're inside the UK.

Rene

Noorah101

That's fine. As long as the work is done in the UK, you're fine. You can receive payments for the work you did in the UK, after you've arrived in the USA.

If you are just part of an organization that gets a payment, that's fine, as long as you personally are not doing ANY of the work involved to receive that payment, while you are physically in the USA. Don't organize anything from the USA, don't do anything work related to that business.

Rene

mathilda_wilde

ooh thanks so much everyone!! especially noorah. if you changed your pic to an animal then i would call you by that name, hehe.

ok, i'll just make sure i don't physically do any work towards anything else i'm currently or in the future will be involved with , with this other group of people.

the whole thing with tax is so so confusing though. i have no idea where to begin :/ so when i go over there for the US branch of the company i'm with, do i have to fill out any US tax forms, register with some company or something of the sort? i thought because they'd pay me as they normally would do here it wouldn't have anything to do with the US tax system :!