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

[swan0206]

@swan0206 Can you please give some advice.

Hi, your details are not complete, like what status do you have in Canada and your nationality in this scenario?

 

[Arham_Charfare]

Hi, your details are not complete, like what status do you have in Canada and your nationality in this scenario?

i have a visitor visa for Canada and My wife has a PR, so i will apply for spousal PR as soon as she moves to Canada. I am of Indian Nationality. I am not concerned about my CA status as that will be resolved. My main concern is about the US questions that i have posted in the previous message.

I am a H1B visa holder (Fulltime Work From Home situation, submitted my Ann Arbor, MI address on H1B and PERM LCA). My wife is a Canadian PR holder. She did her soft landing in 2019, stayed there for hardly 6months. so she needs to stay for 2 more years to at least get the PR extension and thats why she is short on time and needs to move to windsor asap. She works Full time in Michigan WFO so she will have to do the daily commute to MI. My company has started my US PR in December. They are going to file my PERM this month (which i have come to know is taking over 9months now) and then they will file for I-140 once PERM is certified.
My question is:
1) Is it ok if i move to Windsor with my wife and do a daily commute to US with her while my PERM and I140 is in process.
2) What will be the implication on my my PERM application if they come to know that i am living in Windsor.

P.S. I cannot ask all these questions to my Company Attorney. Any help or advice will be appreciated.

 

[swan0206]

i have a visitor visa for Canada and My wife has a PR, so i will apply for spousal PR as soon as she moves to Canada. I am of Indian Nationality. I am not concerned about my CA status as that will be resolved. My main concern is about the US questions that i have posted in the previous message.

I am a H1B visa holder (Fulltime Work From Home situation, submitted my Ann Arbor, MI address on H1B and PERM LCA). My wife is a Canadian PR holder. She did her soft landing in 2019, stayed there for hardly 6months. so she needs to stay for 2 more years to at least get the PR extension and thats why she is short on time and needs to move to windsor asap. She works Full time in Michigan WFO so she will have to do the daily commute to MI. My company has started my US PR in December. They are going to file my PERM this month (which i have come to know is taking over 9months now) and then they will file for I-140 once PERM is certified.
My question is:
1) Is it ok if i move to Windsor with my wife and do a daily commute to US with her while my PERM and I140 is in process.
2) What will be the implication on my my PERM application if they come to know that i am living in Windsor.

P.S. I cannot ask all these questions to my Company Attorney. Any help or advice will be.

Got it.
1) Yes, its ok do commute while your PERM and i140 is in progress, as GC is for future purposes its totally fine as there are lot of people applying from outside the country as well.

2) If they come to know thats when the problem occurs. Its better you let them know your situation and see what they say as you are planning to commute on a regular basis. You can tell them its temporary till my wife gets adjusted there i will be with her. But as long as you are travelling to Ann Arbor for work daily or within 50mile radius you should be good with your GC process as well if you dont want to let them know in the very initial days. Coz they do wage determination(PERM) which is based on the location.

In the best case, you stay inside the country till your PERM is sent out to USCIS and you receive a confirmation that it reached them and then travel. I am really not sure is there a place where you get to submit your i94 where they get to see your travel history in either of the processes. Other than your i94 or your Company related compliance issues(you know better) i dont see if they get to know that you are outside the country.

 

[Arham_Charfare]

Hello Everyone - I am planning to move near to the US Canada border in a short time. Need to clarify a few questions before I plan my move.
1. Does CBP and CBSA officers puts an immigration stamp on the passport when we enter the US and Canada through the land border?
2. Can we start crossing the border to enter the US after my H1B amendment petition is filed for the new location (i.e. city near to the US Canada border)?
3. Does visiting Canada even for a few hours counts as a day spent there and can be used to satisfy the days requirement to maintain PR status/obtaining citizenship?

Would truly appreciate if you could please help answering above. Thanks in advance!

1. No, they dont stamp your passport since there are people who do this everyday.
2. Yes
3. No, you have to be be back in Canada before the end of the day for it to counted as a full day. You can go to US for work and then come back to Canadian side but you cannot do vice versa, You cannot live in US and just got o Canada for few hours.

 

[ustocanada49]

Do you guys put Canadian address for payroll in that case? Since you are going to be paying state taxes anyway, I guess it doesn't make any difference. In that case, how does that affect the H1b visa? Any relation?

State tax - For all Canadian residents who travel daily/weekly to US are also taxed for state. It was my assumption too that its based on residence but when it comes to the candidates travelling from other country every day i think that HR guys place the residence tax state as the state we work. I think its just defined by the HR to determine which is the resident state for tax purposes. (we might have heard the consulting companies place candidates in other states and deduct tax for texas or some other state where they have operations( that have no tax). so its the company who determines and pays/sets the state residency for tax purposes.) however they determine which i dont know but we get taxed for the state where we work which i know for sure. I dont know if you get too much difference for NR and Resident taxes in terms of refund, i am not sure. I did not notice much difference few years ago but dont know now. I think we can test it out from the tax sites by changing the residency and see what it gives difference in refund.

Do you guys put Canadian address for payroll in that case? Since you are going to be paying state taxes anyway, I guess it doesn't make any difference. In that case, how does that affect the H1b visa? Any relation?

 

[harirajmohan]

Do you guys put Canadian address for payroll in that case? Since you are going to be paying state taxes anyway, I guess it doesn't make any difference. In that case, how does that affect the H1b visa? Any relation?

My company kept payroll address as Canadian. Also for years while filing IRS, H1 extension, 3 times visa stamp application - every application had current address as Canadian.

 

[ustocanada49]

My company kept payroll address as Canadian. Also for years while filing IRS, H1 extension, 3 times visa stamp application - every application had current address as Canadian.

Oh. Okay. But I believe you will still be paying all Federal, State and any local address based on your office address (assuming its in Detroit ) for the whole year in that case? Your home address becomes irrelevant for US side of taxes

 

[missedTheGCBus]

1. No, they dont stamp your passport since there are people who do this everyday.
2. Yes
3. No, you have to be be back in Canada before the end of the day for it to counted as a full day. You can go to US for work and then come back to Canadian side but you cannot do vice versa, You cannot live in US and just got o Canada for few hours.

I don't think 3 is true at least how the wording of the law is.
If you leave Canada on a Monday travel to work and return Tuesday night, you do not lose a single day despite not being "back in Canada before the end of the day".

Calculating physical presence for applications received on or after October 11, 2017
...
...
Absences will be calculated only for days where an applicant spent no time at all in Canada. Dates where an applicant left Canada, or returned to Canada will not be counted as an absence since the applicant was physically present in Canada for a portion of both days

 

[harirajmohan]

Oh. Okay. But I believe you will still be paying all Federal, State and any local address based on your office address (assuming its in Detroit ) for the whole year in that case? Your home address becomes irrelevant for US side of taxes

Correct - No change in taxes while i was in US and while commuting.

 

[ustocanada49]

State tax - For all Canadian residents who travel daily/weekly to US are also taxed for state. It was my assumption too that its based on residence but when it comes to the candidates travelling from other country every day i think that HR guys place the residence tax state as the state we work. I think its just defined by the HR to determine which is the resident state for tax purposes. (we might have heard the consulting companies place candidates in other states and deduct tax for texas or some other state where they have operations( that have no tax). so its the company who determines and pays/sets the state residency for tax purposes.) however they determine which i dont know but we get taxed for the state where we work which i know for sure. I dont know if you get too much difference for NR and Resident taxes in terms of refund, i am not sure. I did not notice much difference few years ago but dont know now. I think we can test it out from the tax sites by changing the residency and see what it gives difference in refund.

Not much state refund from employement income as you said the residency becomes irreelvant in cases like this. HOwever, some states have no taxes liability for captial gaisn and investments as such for the period you were non resident. That is one place you can expect some refund

 

[ustocanada49]

Thank you, @Arham_Charfare.

Regarding point# 1, I am planning to be in Canada over a weekend (i.e. Friday night to Monday morning). So, even in this case where I am not crossing the border everyday and entering Canada on Friday and leaving on Monday. Does CBP and CBSA officers still doesn't put an immigration stamp on the passport?

Regarding point#3, I would agree with @missedTheGCBus. I believe a physical presence in Canada even for a few hours counts as a day.

@swan0206 @harirajmohan Can you please share your thoughts on points 1 and 3 above? Would really appreciate your help. Thank you!

#1. Irrespective, there are no stamps in passports these days. ONly i-94 gets gets updated online. Everytime you enter or exist from US, your travel history and i-94 gets updated online. CBSA officers will just update internally all your travel history but their system is not visible to public like on CBP's website.

 

[harirajmohan]

Thank you, @Arham_Charfare.

Regarding point# 1, I am planning to be in Canada over a weekend (i.e. Friday night to Monday morning). So, even in this case where I am not crossing the border everyday and entering Canada on Friday and leaving on Monday. Does CBP and CBSA officers still doesn't put an immigration stamp on the passport?

Regarding point#3, I would agree with @missedTheGCBus. I believe a physical presence in Canada even for a few hours counts as a day.

@swan0206 @harirajmohan Can you please share your thoughts on points 1 and 3 above? Would really appreciate your help. Thank you!

Countries are moving away from stamping during entry into the port. You need to start logging in your excel sheet everyday or get entry-exit records from cbp after you accumulated enough. No entry stamp cannot be your show stopper. Important is to accumulate residency and it doesnt need heavy planning - You simply need to start soon instead of delaying more. Partial day is counted as one day from 2017 rule.

 

[harirajmohan]

Not much state refund from employement income as you said the residency becomes irreelvant in cases like this. HOwever, some states have no taxes liability for captial gaisn and investments as such for the period you were non resident. That is one place you can expect some refund

It wont matter when you have higher tax bracket in Canadian side. So if you pay/dont pay at US side, you end up paying the difference at Canadian side - Doesnt matter if the income is from employment or investments.

 

[harirajmohan]

Thank you, @harirajmohan!

One follow-up question. Would presence in Canada only for a portion of a day create any problem while applying for Canadian citizenship because In this case, someone is not technically residing in Canada and just being there for a few hrs. in a day?

Would be really helpful if you could please answer.

Technically you are staying in the country in the weekend. The cic officer cares about the physical precense calculator which shows the number of days qualified, not the hours spent on each day. Many work in US during week days and come back for weekend. You are not going to do something new.

cic officer is not a problem as they just want to see what would be the number of days shown on calculator.

Earlier i wanted to comment on it but prevented in telling but it seems that you are trying not to move to Canada. I am not sure how you would maintain your residency peacefully without moving here. I assume that you would have some place to stay in Canada hence at least change your driving license (and your car registration) to avoid hassle in answering the border at both side (if you keep showing up your driver license and car plates of US). If not its a headache in answering why and why not at both sides.
So your worry is not cic officer.

Crossing border is not piece of cake. Its piece of cake if you simply make Canada as residence while on PR(and while you are on visa). If you are on GC or 485 filed then dont complicate things and just stay in US.

you need to give full situation including status in US and your plan on residency accumulation and if you are moving to Canada fully or not. WIthout that you keep asking question and i keep trying to answer with some assumptions is not necessary.

 

[missedTheGCBus]

Crossing border is not piece of cake. Its piece of cake if you simply make Canada as residence while on PR(and while you are on visa). If you are on GC or 485 filed then dont complicate things and just stay in US.

Curious how the 485 filed can cause issues?
I am planning to move soon and commute so would be helpful, I have an H1 so the 485 is just a backup status ...