IEC visa and US L1 visa

[Maza233]

Hi guys

I was recently granted my L1b visa for the US and plan to move over soon. However my girlfriend lives in Canada and before going through the L1b process I applied for and got an IEC visa. I'm yet to activate it though.

My plan is to move to the US but travel to Canada regularly and work remotely for my US employer around 5 days a month from Canada.

I understand I don't need a work permit to do this as it's not classed as ''work" for residency purposes (its not taking work from Canadians) and I have an eTa issued already so can be in Canada for 6 months at a time as a visitor.

My question is whether it is safer for me to just get the work permit I've been granted with my IEC so that I don't come into any problems when crossing the border. Are there any issues with holding both an IEC and associated work permit and the US L1b visa?

I'm not going to be renting a place in Canada, will not be there for more than 183 days a year, my income is paid by my US employer in USD and won't even have a SIN.

 

[Maza233]

You should save your IEC work permit for future as it's a one time opportunity. You can totally do the 5 day/month thing but be prepared to be pulled in to secondary every time you cross on either sides if you will be frequenting that much unless you qualify for Nexus and then you sail through. Lol. You can still always be stopped as it will definitely appear suspicious even though you are not doing anything illegal.

Thanks Andy - I've actually only got till mid March to activate my IEC anyway before I lose it.

I'm ready to be pulled haha! Going to make sure I keep a lot of US residency stuff with me to stop any issues.

I've had a look into Nexus but not sure I qualify as yet - might look at this again in a couple of years.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

You should save your IEC work permit for future as it's a one time opportunity.

As the IEC LOE has already been issued, it counts as a participation whether OP activates it or not.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks Andy - I've actually only got till mid March to activate my IEC anyway before I lose it.

I'm ready to be pulled haha! Going to make sure I keep a lot of US residency stuff with me to stop any issues.

I've had a look into Nexus but not sure I qualify as yet - might look at this again in a couple of years.

You should activate it, as it would be wasted otherwise. It would be there as a back-up.