Maintaining U.S. H1B visa in Canada

[lampbreaker]

All these things are good till u have kids. U can travel and do a lot of stuff, the day ur refused entry in US coz u didn’t satisfy officer at POE. The cookie crumbles.

They cannot do it arbitrarily. At most they will send you to secondary. As long as everything is genuine, there should not be any reason to worry.

 

[Illinois60]

I expect Trump to win the next election...and he will be unleashed for the next 4 without any remorse. It will be lot harder than it is to travel and work remotely.

 

[jetsongospel]

I expect Trump to win the next election...and he will be unleashed for the next 4 without any remorse. It will be lot harder than it is to travel and work remotely.

Trump has been good for candidates who have come properly out of the system, A reform is much needed and would never happen under the democrats.

As to the original question, anyone has an idea on the number of days required to be in US (aka at the workplace)?

 

[DEEPCUR]

Trump has been good for candidates who have come properly out of the system, A reform is much needed and would never happen under the democrats.

As to the original question, anyone has an idea on the number of days required to be in US (aka at the workplace)?

there is no such limit written anywhere. As long as your employer is ready to support your H1 and keep you employed, you should be good

 

[harirajmohan]

As to the original question, anyone has an idea on the number of days required to be in US (aka at the workplace)?

Per rule, H1 candidate should be spending most work time only at the location where it was approved for and the residence should be closer/commutable to that work location. As RFE gets issued even though rarely, but rule exists on it.
https://forum.am22tech.com/t/h1b-extension-rfe-for-living-far-from-office-100-miles-out-of-msa/1327
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/655.715

 

[jetsongospel]

there is no such limit written anywhere. As long as your employer is ready to support your H1 and keep you employed, you should be good

Thank you

Per rule, H1 candidate should be spending most work time only at the location where it was approved for and the residence should be closer/commutable to that work location. As RFE gets issued even though rarely, but rule exists on it.
https://forum.am22tech.com/t/h1b-extension-rfe-for-living-far-from-office-100-miles-out-of-msa/1327
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/655.715

Thank you, am closer now to work than from our previous home location. My roles changes so not required to be in office as much as I used to.

 

[Ammjyo]

Per rule, H1 candidate should be spending most work time only at the location where it was approved for and the residence should be closer/commutable to that work location. As RFE gets issued even though rarely, but rule exists on it.
https://forum.am22tech.com/t/h1b-extension-rfe-for-living-far-from-office-100-miles-out-of-msa/1327
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/655.715

Hi

1) Is working for a US employer on H1B while physically living in Canada fine in terms of USCIS laws( as long as the employer is fine with this arrangement ) ?

2) Would residing outside USA impact your position in anyway , when it comes to filing I -485 ( date becomes current ) ?

Sorry if my question seems repetitive .

Thanks in advance

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi

1) Is working for a US employer on H1B while physically living in Canada fine in terms of USCIS laws( as long as the employer is fine with this arrangement ) ?

2) Would residing outside USA impact your position in anyway , when it comes to filing I -485 ( date becomes current ) ?

Sorry if my question seems repetitive .

Thanks in advance

1. Canada doesnt care if you do offshore work or onsite work as you are on legal status in Canada and as long as you pay taxes for the earnings during your period of stay in Canada.
2. It depends.
if you think that actual card will take time to come and you want to avoid issues in doing your job(/travel to client site/meetings etc) in US then you should be moving to US and then file 485.
If your company is ok with filing 485 for consular processing then there is no issue. Many move to US after receiving immigrant visa, same like how we received pr visa and then moved to Canada.

 

[Scalphunter]

What's the process like for someone looking to work for a US client remotely from Canada?

I'm on an H-1B and my employer has a branch in Canada. If I move to Canada as a PR, and if the US client is fine with me working remotely from Canada, how is it structured? Do I become an employee of my employer's Canadian branch and have my salary routed through Client -> Employer US branch -> Employer Canada branch?

 

[harirajmohan]

What's the process like for someone looking to work for a US client remotely from Canada?

I'm on an H-1B and my employer has a branch in Canada. If I move to Canada as a PR, and if the US client is fine with me working remotely from Canada, how is it structured? Do I become an employee of my employer's Canadian branch and have my salary routed through Client -> Employer US branch -> Employer Canada branch?

If your client is fine then just ask your employer to just continue your payroll. Nothing much need to do. You dont need any H1 to be filed to work from Canada.
If your employer cant pay if there is no H1 document then you need to find other route which i dont know. There was a thread for the same - you can search or wait for others to write.

 

[Ammjyo]

1. Canada doesnt care if you do offshore work or onsite work as you are on legal status in Canada and as long as you pay taxes for the earnings during your period of stay in Canada.
2. It depends.
if you think that actual card will take time to come and you want to avoid issues in doing your job(/travel to client site/meetings etc) in US then you should be moving to US and then file 485.
If your company is ok with filing 485 for consular processing then there is no issue. Many move to US after receiving immigrant visa, same like how we received pr visa and then moved to Canada.

Thank you for your response .

 

[swan0206]

H1 renewal gets done as usual. No change in process wise except that employee's address would be in Canada. No issues in that.

Hi Hariraj,

Can renewal(or extension) be also done even if we are not working for a US client?? i have i140. you have answered this before, but here the situation is if i am not with same client or employer or i go back to my employer after 1 or 2 yrs of gap, should he be able to do it?

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi Hariraj,

Can renewal(or extension) be also done even if we are not working for a US client?? i have i140. you have answered this before, but here the situation is if i am not with same client or employer or i go back to my employer after 1 or 2 yrs of gap, should he be able to do it?

Yes as long as your 140 was in approved stage for 6 months after it was approved.
Yes many companies dont file for new 140 for the new employees, instead they just use old employer's 140 to get h1 quota exemption. Doesnt matter if there is a gap in h1 status as 140 just helps on quota exemption, nothing much. Being inside is not the eligibility criteria to get the H1 quota/exemption to use the 140.

 

[ashwin.metpalli]

Thank you all for the responses. So, I believe the gist is I can continue to work from Canada on H1B as far as my employer is Ok with it. Subsequently, I am soon going to apply for renewal of my H1B and I know I am going to move to Canada by then. Please share your views on what would be the address I provide for the LCA application.

Hi Swapnib

My employer (immigration team) says they don’t even recommend employees to work out of US for extended period of time (Leaves Exempted) as that would raise compliance issues.
Can you please clarify how it is working for you..
(I am a full time employee on L-1 visa currently)
Like what care attorneys should take while filing the H1 petition so that I will be able to work remotely from Canada)

Appreciate your help and Thank you in advance!!

 

[Akash1286]

So much wrong info here.

You CANNOT work on an H-1B out of USA. Once your outside USA, you are out of status.

Your work location should be within a few miles or zone mentioned in your LCA.

If you work from home in Canada, you are breaking the rules and risk rejection or RFE and being fired.

Your company will find out and possibly USCIS if your mails are going to an address in Canada as your primary residence.

Best soln is to rent an apartment within US border and have your mails go there