Canada PR work in Seattle L1

[KARVENKA]

Hi All,
I am Canadian PR and thru my company I am relocating to Seattle on a L1 . Until EAD is done for my spouse I plan on traveling back and forth between Seattle and Vancouver every week. Are their people who do this ?

Also I applied for Nexus and was approved however the Canadian officer gave me stern warning on using my Canadian driving license in Washington state . He said I have to change to a Washington state license in 30 days which means I will not be able to drive across the border as I have read that a Canadian PR cannot be driving a US registered vehicle etc . Is this true ? Any pointers from people who do this ?

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi All,
I am Canadian PR and thru my company I am relocating to Seattle on a L1 . Until EAD is done for my spouse I plan on traveling back and forth between Seattle and Vancouver every week. Are their people who do this ?

Also I applied for Nexus and was approved however the Canadian officer gave me stern warning on using my Canadian driving license in Washington state . He said I have to change to a Washington state license in 30 days which means I will not be able to drive across the border as I have read that a Canadian PR cannot be driving a US registered vehicle etc . Is this true ? Any pointers from people who do this ?

I am confused. Where are you right now? Are you outside of North America?
If you move to Seattle then why do still want to commute and what is the issue about till EAD. Can you explain more?

Common expectation from border guys: If you reside in US and commute then they expect you to be having US license and US car registration - vice versa too. To avoid confusion on identifying the individual, the border guys wanted you to have all of your and your vehicle to be identified on one of the border and not showing different license and different car registration.

So not sure whats your difficulty in commuting / having the car-licence registered in one side of border.

 

[KARVENKA]

I am confused. Where are you right now? Are you outside of North America?
If you move to Seattle then why do still want to commute and what is the issue about till EAD. Can you explain more?

Common expectation from border guys: If you reside in US and commute then they expect you to be having US license and US car registration - vice versa too. To avoid confusion on identifying the individual, the border guys wanted you to have all of your and your vehicle to be identified on one of the border and not showing different license and different car registration.

So not sure whats your difficulty in commuting / having the car-licence registered in one side of border.

Hi thanks for the response . The spouse EAD takes 4 months . So we will wait until it comes before my family also moves . My wife currently works in Vancouver. I commute weekly to Seattle for work and come back on Thursday . Does that answer your question ?
I understood the point on keeping the license and car registration under the same country which is why I was surprised when the Canadian officer said I had to take the Washington license

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi thanks for the response . The spouse EAD takes 4 months . So we will wait until it comes before my family also moves . My wife currently works in Vancouver. I commute weekly to Seattle for work and come back on Thursday . Does that answer your question ?
I understood the point on keeping the license and car registration under the same country which is why I was surprised when the Canadian officer said I had to take the Washington license

Ok. So you are still in Canada. And you can commute with current Canadian license and Canadian car registration for daily commute. No issues till this point.
EAD: You need to see if your wife is eligible to get it before moving to US as she needs to be on non immigrant status.

 

[KARVENKA]

Ok. So you are still in Canada. And you can commute with current Canadian license and Canadian car registration for daily commute. No issues till this point.
EAD: You need to see if your wife is eligible to get it before moving to US as she needs to be on non immigrant status.

Thanks for the response . By the way I don’t commute daily . I commute weekly and do have a studio in Seattle. Is there a issue here ? On EAD I will apply after she gets a I94

 

[harirajmohan]

Thanks for the response . By the way I don’t commute daily . I commute weekly and do have a studio in Seattle. Is there a issue here ? On EAD I will apply after she gets a I94

For commuting(daily/weekly/monthly), one doesnt need to have residence in US - maybe you are planning to use it for EAD application. Seems no issue in commuting.
uscis might verify if I94 is valid while approving (not just while applying) hence you need to plan accordingly.

 

[canuck78]

If you are listing your residence as Seattle for your work visa you should be switching your drivers license and insurance to Washington.

 

[CanucksRajiv]

Hello Guys,

Has anyone successfully done Vancouver (white Rock) to Seattle daily commute?

 

[justinline]

Lot people do travel Vancouver-Seattle . I dont think daily commute is possible. You are looking at 2-3 hrs of one way trip depending on where and when you travel, could be even more. One guy I knew, did Monday to Seattle , back to Vancouver on Tuesday, work from home on Wednesday, travel again on Thursday and Friday. This was his travel week schedule, which he tried to keep alternate week. And lot of time he just did remote work.

Lot of healthcare professionals or IT consultants also travel, but usually I have seen are citizens already. They do kind of Monday to Thursday kind of travel.

 

[justinline]

Forgot.......There was talk of high speed railway connecting Vancouver and Seattle, which would bring the travel time to less than hour. Not sure where it stands now......probably then daily commute would be option, but I am sure cost be restrictive.

 

[NJvv]

Hey, did you apply for Canada citizenship. How did it go for you with the daily/weekly/weekend commute from the US to Canada to meet residency obligation? Can we connect on email / WhatsApp?

Hi All,
I am Canadian PR and thru my company I am relocating to Seattle on a L1 . Until EAD is done for my spouse I plan on traveling back and forth between Seattle and Vancouver every week. Are their people who do this ?

Also I applied for Nexus and was approved however the Canadian officer gave me stern warning on using my Canadian driving license in Washington state . He said I have to change to a Washington state license in 30 days which means I will not be able to drive across the border as I have read that a Canadian PR cannot be driving a US registered vehicle etc . Is this true ? Any pointers from people who do this ?