Consulting work in the US; tips?

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

On Monday 23 July 2007 21:47, Madison Kelly wrote:
> Hi all,
>
>    I've got an offer for three-days consulting work in the US. Has
> anyone here had recent experience travel down south for work? Any
> tips for a painless border crossing?

1. Be prepared for completely arbitrary interpretations of the (silly) 
NAFTA laws pertaining to IT consultancy. For instance, programmers 
are specifically excluded under NAFTA but "systems analysts", 
whatever those are, are covered. Have a backup plan in case you are 
refused entry. Even before 9/11, this was an area fraught with 
unpredictability. It is even more so now. Having had TN visas in the 
past, I speak from experience.

2. Have a written contract from your client and a mountain of 
documentation to support your TN visa claim. You will need an 
original copy of relevant degrees. In my specific case, I qualified 
under two categories, as a systems analyst or as a management 
consultant. I only discovered this after I was refused entry as a 
systems analyst because the client wrote that I would be 
doing "Programming and systems analysis" and the INS agent refused on 
the basis that since "Programming" was capitalized and "systems 
analysis" was not, I was a programmer and thus disqualified from 
entry. I returned the next day with an application as a management 
consultant and was granted the TN visa. Three months later, same 
contract, same documentation, that time I was rejected as a 
management consultant but accepted as a systems analyst. After that 
experience, I was always prepared with two TN applications in case 
one was refused and it was a toss up which one would be accepted.

3. You do not need a TN visa if you are going to the U.S. to service, 
support, or train users on a system that your company sold. That 
would be a B-1 visa. You will need to provide documentary evidence of 
the sale, support contract, and other pertinent details.

4. Be truthful in your answers. The consequences for being caught 
lying can be quite severe. (I do not speak from experience in this 
case.) Do not listen to people who tell you "Just say you are 
visiting friends." That is very bad advice.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis Corporation
3266 Yonge Street, Suite 1419
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326
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