Daily commute (Detroit-Windsor) (H1b and Canada PR)

[adi92]

Visa and I94 are valid(mostly they wont issue a new one) even if its on old passport. Just carry both and band it together and show the visa page in old passport and officer will look at both passports to make sure you have a valid one while traveling. Let the officer decide if they need I94 or not. So if they need then they will issue a new one and pay at that time.
Same for return trip. Mostly they wont ask for passport as you have pr card. So if asked then show the new one. if asked then show old one.

Let the officers decide and do their tasks. Lets not worry about it but your visa is valid as long as your visa has future validity.

Hi @harirajmohan , I entered Michigan. My new passport was stamped with a 6month validity. However when I check the i94 online, it is linked with my old passport and not the new one. Should I correct it, or leave it as is?

 

[swan0206]

Hi @harirajmohan , I entered Michigan. My new passport was stamped with a 6month validity. However when I check the i94 online, it is linked with my old passport and not the new one. Should I correct it, or leave it as is?

Give it sometime like a week and check back. Even though its linked with old passport you are good. Or else, it should get corrected automatically next time when you enter. This is normal.

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi @harirajmohan , I entered Michigan. My new passport was stamped with a 6month validity. However when I check the i94 online, it is linked with my old passport and not the new one. Should I correct it, or leave it as is?

We should only worry about the date validity. Rest is not to be worried about.
Some officers tag the old passport and some update them. its not new. It happened to me too for my family member. We dont worry about it as long as our I94 is active and valid.

 

[sowsiv]

hello @harirajmohan @swan0206 and other seniors, wanted to ask some suggestion about my situation. My employer is in illinois and currently i have my perm process going on. My company also has a branch in canada but not near border cities instead in toronto. I have canada pr. I have the following question,

1. Can any of u give a high level idea about the savings we can have by doing daily commute. e.g, lets say a person is on h1b earning 100k usd vs 100k cad in non-border cities like kitchener etc
2. If above math checks out, I actually wanted to ask my employer if they can allow me to work from Canada on H1B and either drive once in 2 weeks or fly but with costs included in hotel+travel fare etc confused if its worth?
3. What tech companies do you know in Detroit which allow H1Bs to commute daily from windsor.
4. If its border city how good are chances to get an IT job if my wife is trying to get an IT job, do you have any such preferences?

Thank you for your time

 

[harirajmohan]

hello @harirajmohan @swan0206 and other seniors, wanted to ask some suggestion about my situation. My employer is in illinois and currently i have my perm process going on. My company also has a branch in canada but not near border cities instead in toronto. I have canada pr. I have the following question,

1. Can any of u give a high level idea about the savings we can have by doing daily commute. e.g, lets say a person is on h1b earning 100k usd vs 100k cad in non-border cities like kitchener etc
2. If above math checks out, I actually wanted to ask my employer if they can allow me to work from Canada on H1B and either drive once in 2 weeks or fly but with costs included in hotel+travel fare etc confused if its worth?
3. What tech companies do you know in Detroit which allow H1Bs to commute daily from windsor.
4. If its border city how good are chances to get an IT job if my wife is trying to get an IT job, do you have any such preferences?

Thank you for your time

You need to calculate just the travel expenses if its above the currency conversion amount or not.
30k CAD excess if you work in US which will be spent fully on travel or not.
And you should see if its really feasible and you are determined to travel like this for 3-4 years, not just for few months.

 

[sowsiv]

thank you @harirajmohan you mean that roughly 30k cad is travel expenses for ppl doing border commute?

 

[harirajmohan]

thank you @harirajmohan you mean that roughly 30k cad is travel expenses for ppl doing border commute?

No, i said that to calculate it based on your example to calculate your expenses if its worth or not, between Canadian salary and US salary.

 

[Cananm]

I have a question regarding car import!
I moved from Texas to Windsor on PR in early May 2022, wife PR is in process. And have rented an apartment in Windsor!
I work on H1B (full remote wfh) and wife is on H4.
We got a new car in Sep 2021, has a US number plate (Texas) and is under finance right now.
For import it will be required to pay off completely, its not possible for me! Also, I dont want to sell my car, considering the current wait time and marks ups on the car prices in Canada!
Even though my position is remote, my company has got office location in Detroit, where I can go and work. But, I wont be getting any desk assigned at Detroit location and neither was one assigned in Texas.
I cant update my address with the company at the moment because GC documentation is in process (just got job classification) and updating the address means everything will begin from scratch.
During the Canadian border crossing officer said that they made a note on my account that I wont be able to enter Canada with the same Number plate car!
Question is, how can I maintain my car with US number plate while in Canada and manage to pay the original loan amount!
I am open for registering car in MI!
Any thoughts!

 

[shri.ca]

I have a question regarding car import!
I moved from Texas to Windsor on PR in early May 2022, wife PR is in process. And have rented an apartment in Windsor!
I work on H1B (full remote wfh) and wife is on H4.
We got a new car in Sep 2021, has a US number plate (Texas) and is under finance right now.
For import it will be required to pay off completely, its not possible for me! Also, I dont want to sell my car, considering the current wait time and marks ups on the car prices in Canada!
Even though my position is remote, my company has got office location in Detroit, where I can go and work. But, I wont be getting any desk assigned at Detroit location and neither was one assigned in Texas.
I cant update my address with the company at the moment because GC documentation is in process (just got job classification) and updating the address means everything will begin from scratch.
During the Canadian border crossing officer said that they made a note on my account that I wont be able to enter Canada with the same Number plate car!
Question is, how can I maintain my car with US number plate while in Canada and manage to pay the original loan amount!
I am open for registering car in MI!
Any thoughts!

One of my friend was in similar situation. He is working from Detroit and commutes from Windsor. He was able to import the car without completely paying off auto loan. He worked out the paperwork with Financing company.
In regards to registering car in MI, CBSA will not like to have car / DL from US as you are on PR and not on temporary visa.

 

[Cananm]

One of my friend was in similar situation. He is working from Detroit and commutes from Windsor. He was able to import the car without completely paying off auto loan. He worked out the paperwork with Financing company.
In regards to registering car in MI, CBSA will not like to have car / DL from US as you are on PR and not on temporary visa.

That's Fantastic!
I tried that option with my financing company they didnt agree to this option!
Maybe if you can share the name of financing company I can re-finance my vehicle and try to work with them!

 

[TZSR8JN]

need suggestions (status: Canadian PR and US H1b)
1. I’m living very near to Washington border - Surrey Canada and I got a job in Seattle (Remote).
2. I wanted to take a room in Bellingham WA and go there once a week to work from there and rest of the days I wanted to stay in surrey BC to work.
3. I will not spend my US salary in Canada as my wife works in Canada and we could spend her salary.
4. I have nexus. what implications I have to travel once a week? I’m ok to pay taxes in USA and Canada which would be 30% in the US and the rest of 20% in Canada.

thanks - please let me know if I’m missing anything

 

[harirajmohan]

need suggestions (status: Canadian PR and US H1b)
1. I’m living very near to Washington border - Surrey Canada and I got a job in Seattle (Remote).
2. I wanted to take a room in Bellingham WA and go there once a week to work from there and rest of the days I wanted to stay in surrey BC to work.
3. I will not spend my US salary in Canada as my wife works in Canada and we could spend her salary.
4. I have nexus. what implications I have to travel once a week? I’m ok to pay taxes in USA and Canada which would be 30% in the US and the rest of 20% in Canada.

thanks - please let me know if I’m missing anything

Not sure why you need to take a room in US side which is of unnecessary expense as you are already close to border on the other side.
Nexus is nothing to do with immigration/frequency of commute.(only to get approval of nexus we need to present ourselves as frequent commute but nothing applies after that).
You can travel once a month too as long as you have valid visa without worrying about maintaining I94 to be current all the time. If you dont have valid visa(and if you are already on H1 status with valid I94) then you should try to travel every 3-4 weeks(at least every 30 days as per rule to maintain status without any issue in reentering later).
Taxes are not going to be 20-30% as you are showing the taxes paid in US and might need to pay little more in Canada(if you dont contribute to rrsp).

 

[TZSR8JN]

Not sure why you need to take a room in US side which is of unnecessary expense as you are already close to border on the other side.
Nexus is nothing to do with immigration/frequency of commute.(only to get approval of nexus we need to present ourselves as frequent commute but nothing applies after that).
You can travel once a month too as long as you have valid visa without worrying about maintaining I94 to be current all the time. If you dont have valid visa(and if you are already on H1 status with valid I94) then you should try to travel every 3-4 weeks(at least every 30 days as per rule to maintain status without any issue in reentering later).
Taxes are not going to be 20-30% as you are showing the taxes paid in US and might need to pay little more in Canada(if you dont contribute to rrsp).

First, thanks for quick response on this.

re US residence - I thought for US payroll, I should give US address. So thought of taking a room near Us border. I also think USCIS could have frequent site visits so having US residence would be beneficial. Also I need to get stamping of H1 and they will ask where in US I’m living and thought having US address would be important.

to maintain H1B status, traveling to US once in 30 days enough ? can you please link the official USCIS article on this? thanks.

 

[harirajmohan]

First, thanks for quick response on this.

re US residence - I thought for US payroll, I should give US address. So thought of taking a room near Us border. I also think USCIS could have frequent site visits so having US residence would be beneficial. Also I need to get stamping of H1 and they will ask where in US I’m living and thought having US address would be important.

to maintain H1B status, traveling to US once in 30 days enough ? can you please link the official USCIS article on this? thanks.

USCIS needs the worker to be residing within commutable distance from the work location. This is the legal requirement.
While i was commuting, i always had Canada address while filling H1, Labor, 140, 1040 etc(including payroll address) because short distance doesnt violate any laws. It will be illogical for uscis officer if we say that we are in Texas and working in California. So we can see some RFE on that(of course its only rare as uscis officers are busy in dealing with other requirements and often very less applications come up like this). But it doesnt mean they are worrying about 100 miles distance. 100 miles are commutable and more it goes more it gives issues. Many are even monthly commuting if long distance but short distance surely no issues.

Dont just follow the threads here and act just only based on that. Know the rules and apply on whats being discussed to see if its required.

Giving US address doesnt give you any benefits in this case as you are actually giving fake address to govt agency about your residence which is way more problem than giving your actual border address(like many other commuters). What if cbp pulls your records when you commute and finds that you were staying in canada prior to that but gave residence address US.
When i got my first H1, of course i cannot give US address which uscis knows that company is recruiting foreigner and surely cannot be having US address. if i give US address then uscis will ask how.
First check with your immigration team before deciding anything yourself.

For decades, my TN visa colleagues are having only Canadian address everywhere.

its up to you if you want to rent and spend in US but it doesnt solve anything.

 

[shri.ca]

That's Fantastic!
I tried that option with my financing company they didnt agree to this option!
Maybe if you can share the name of financing company I can re-finance my vehicle and try to work with them!

His auto loan was serviced from GM Finance.