Consulting work in the US; tips?

[Evan Leibovitch]

Dave Cramer wrote:
> Don't ever say you are going down there for work. Just say you are
> going to visit friends

That can also be problematic; the border guards are getting better/worse
at trying to trip people up if they don' t have a consistent story. A
flip of the coin or a bad cup of coffee could make the difference
between an indifferent nod and the third degree (I've had my share of both).

They can and will prevent a Canadian from going to work as an employee
(salary or contract) of a US company without appropriate permits (which
is why "I' m going there to work" sets off alarm bells). They will not
prevent you as an employee of a Canadian company going to meet with an
American supplier or client. But " meeting with clients"  is not the
same as " doing work"  for them.

One other clean and legitimate way to do this -- and what I would
recommend to Madison if she qualifies -- is to apply at the border (ie,
at the airport pre-clearance) as a "NAFTA Professional".

Useful websites to explain this are
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1274.html
and
http://www.amcits.com/nafta.asp

Make sure that all documentation says that you are performing your work
as a "computer systems analyst", regardless of the specifics of the job.
That term is a specifically listed "NAFTA Profession", whereas "System
Administration"  is not. Check
http://www.amcits.com/nafta_professions.asp for a list of acceptable
professions.

If you meet the requirements, and aren't in their database as a security
threat, they can' t turn you down.

IANAIL, but I've used all of these tactics at one time or another. I've
don' t recall ever having to lie.

- Evan


(ANAIL -- I am not an immigration lawyer)

--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists