Online Businesses & Immigration

[iNick89]

Hey all!

I have a question for you all. My partner, who is American, is the sole proprietor of his own online business (freelance online marketing & social media). His business is registered in the state of New Jersey, where he is from.

We are currently in the process of beginning to apply for common law - for him to come to Canada. He was previously working here in Canada on a work permit, but got denied for an extension so he had to go back home. We lived together for over a year, and have been in a long distance relationship for about 6 years. He is going to be coming back to visit me frequently, for longer periods of time during our application process (we are applying as outside of Canada).

Since his entire business is based online, do any of you see there being any problem with that? He can work from anywhere in the world (i.e. - we've been on vacation to places like Aruba where he worked, he works when I visit him in the states, he can work when he comes to Canada). His clients are from all over (some from Canada, the US, other countries) and when he gets paid, it goes into his American bank account and he will be filing American taxes.

Any insight is appreciated! The reason I posted in this specific forum is because he will be visiting Canada - I don't have any questions about the actual common law process.

 

[scylla]

If he had no Canadian clients, then he'd be able to work on his online business in Canada without a work permit. However the Canadian clients make this situation a problem.

I believe he should still be able to work while in Canada (without a work permit) provided he does absolutely zero work that is in any way related to any of his Canadian clients.

 

[iNick89]

Thanks for your quick response!

Thanks for the info - I am jut wondering, how come the Canadian clients make the situation sticky? Since he is not employed by these people and his work is freelance and based out of the USA, wouldn't it not matter if they are Canadian or not?

How come it becomes a problem for him to work on their marketing when he's in Canada, as long as he is not depositing their payment into a Canadian bank account, but rather into his US business bank account?

 

[scylla]

If he's doing work for Canadian clients while in Canada (and without a work permit) this is classified as illegal work. It doesn't matter if the work is freelance and it doesn't matter when / how he's paid. He should do absolutely no work of any kind for Canadian clients while physically in Canada (until he's able to work in Canada legally).

If it was this simple, anyone could come to Canada, find Canadian clients, work for them freelance and get paid into a foreign account - all without a work permit. CIC doesn't allow this because if someone is doing this, they are perceived as taking a job away from a Canadian. Otherwise stated, not allowing this is the Canadian government's way of protecting its workforce and providing jobs to Canadians first.

If he wants to avoid working illegally, all work related to Canadian clients will have to be done outside of Canada.

 

[iNick89]

Makes sense!

He will just have to make sure his clients that are from Canada are completely taken care of whenever he visits, so we do this 100% properly.

Thanks for the help!