Canadian PR living in Canada BUT working for US Employer on H1B Visa

[xedelatorre]

Hope someone in a similar situation can shed some light into the following questions:

1- Is it ok with both US & Canada border agents to cross the border daily or frequently with an H1B Visa or TN Visa and state that I live in Canada but travel to the US for work?

2- Does working for a US employer while living in Canada hinder my citizenship day count for Canada? I've heard having a US work visa on your passport can hinder the day count from the perspective of Canada Citizenship authorities.

3- Has anybody had any issues stating at the US Border that you live in Canada but are traveling into the US for work with your H1B visa?

4- By working for US employer from Canada, is the Canadian PR obligations and Future Citizenship requirements at risk?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

[Msafiri]

1. As long as you have the right paperwork for each side enabling/supporting your entry purpose you are good to go. Both CBP and CBSA are used to daily border crossing commuters - plenty of them at Windsor/Detroit!

2. In theory no but in practice it can cause CIC to doubt/focus more on declared residence days. Historically CBP/CIC/CBSA kept no, little or very poor border crossing records (never stamping) especially where the traveller held US employment/residence status. Many Canadian PRs who wanted to game the system with residence fraud for citizenship applications, maintaining PR RO and PR Card renewals took advantage of this and pretended to have lived in Canada for longer durations than they actually did. To deal with this CIC went into overkill and at one time was in de-facto RQ issuance mode for Canadian citizenship applicants with US H1B status during the 4 year qualifying period. Border records have since then improved to include increased sharing of entries/exits so CIC have more confidence in declared residence in Canada. You may still get RQd due to the sheer number of entry/exit records you will generate over a 4/6 year period but you may not. Deal with it nearer to the time..

3. As per 1 it shouldn't be an issue. CBP's main concern is the non immigrant overstaying/working illegally. H1B being intent negates much of this. You may be best using the search function with different criteria e.g US H1B and Canadian Citizenship etc. Alternative is to trawl through the forum. Hopefully someone responds with their personal experience. As per

4. No but see 2 above. As a side issue Canada's new citizenship law has a 'meet your tax obligations' aspect so with your US tax filing requirements keep solid records. Keep a record of your travels - set up a spreadsheet and update regularly so in 4 years time you are not going through your passports trying to figure out when and where you entered/exited the US/Canada.

 

[keesio]

1. yes it is allowed.

2. it will raise suspicion. It is also a known potential RQ trigger in the past

3. don't know

4. it doesn't necessarily put it as risk. But it will draw suspicion so make sure you collect concrete proof of your days spent in Canada. And as mentioned earlier, it can trigger an RQ. So it is likely that you will have non-routine processing times.

 

[xedelatorre]

Thanks Msafiri and Keesio for your responses!

What kind of concrete proof do I need to collect over the next few years to prove that I am in fact residing in Canada. My travels are not daily but twice a month for 2-3 days.

I am already tracking on a spreadsheet my travel dates, what other concrete proof should I be collecting or keeping?

Thanks again in advance for your responses!

 

[keesio]

Thanks Msafiri and Keesio for your responses!

What kind of concrete proof do I need to collect over the next few years to prove that I am in fact residing in Canada. My travels are not daily but twice a month for 2-3 days.

I am already tracking on a spreadsheet my travel dates, what other concrete proof should I be collecting or keeping?

Thanks again in advance for your responses!

Concrete proofs include strong proof of address (signed lease agreement or mortgage payments), utility bills/payments, anything else that requires your physical presence in Canada (doctor visits, dentist visits, etc). And make sure you have extremely clear proofs of your entry/exit records to/from the US.

It is not your frequency of travel that is the issue (though at least you don't commute every day), but the fact that you work for a US employer on an H1B visa.

 

[VOBuckeye]

Hope someone in a similar situation can shed some light into the following questions:

1- Is it ok with both US & Canada border agents to cross the border daily or frequently with an H1B Visa or TN Visa and state that I live in Canada but travel to the US for work?

2- Does working for a US employer while living in Canada hinder my citizenship day count for Canada? I've heard having a US work visa on your passport can hinder the day count from the perspective of Canada Citizenship authorities.

3- Has anybody had any issues stating at the US Border that you live in Canada but are traveling into the US for work with your H1B visa?

4- By working for US employer from Canada, is the Canadian PR obligations and Future Citizenship requirements at risk?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Hello!

I'm planning to do the same; commute from Windsor to work in Detroit on H1B. I have Canadian PR
what was your experience like? Any insights?
Thank you