Daily commute (Detroit-Windsor) (H1b and Canada PR)

[gtvisa2020]

I wish, moving from US-->CA payroll is a cost reduction, but the flip is not. So manager said, she will try everything in her power but may need to justify the increased cost. I understand that, if the job can be done at a lower cost to the company, why would they pay more?

 

[Mlsoup]

Hi

I am currently working in Canada and preparing to apply for EE, in the meantime selected for dv lottery and waiting my number to become active for green card interview.

I am wondering whether I can live in Windsor with Canadian PR and work in Detroit with us green card , daily commute.

My question is about presence calculation for Canada, and if anyone knows for USA, and also possible outcome of this setup in citizenship application on Canada.

Thank you.

 

[DEEPCUR]

I wish, moving from US-->CA payroll is a cost reduction, but the flip is not. So manager said, she will try everything in her power but may need to justify the increased cost. I understand that, if the job can be done at a lower cost to the company, why would they pay more?

But why you did not try for working remote keeping your H1.. like tell them that you'd work from Detroit, but commute from Windsor.

 

[rakakatoofaan]

Is your attorney in-house or an independent one whom I can possibly consult?

It is in house. Apologies for late reply.

 

[Cubicrootofthee]

It is in house. Apologies for late reply.

No worries. Thanks

 

[DEEPCUR]

Guys who do regular commute.. How would you manage to commute if the extension happens to be pending after i94 expiry and premium processing is unavailable?

 

[harirajmohan]

Guys who do regular commute.. How would you manage to commute if the extension happens to be pending after i94 expiry and premium processing is unavailable?

I think that one should have valid I94 to cross the border. As far as i know, every time one enters US should establish eligibility and automatic validation rule expects valid I94. So not sure if they will allow as border guys used to trouble me (in the form of too many questions and too many secondary inspections and review of documents and long waiting time) while traveling with expired visa even when I94 is valid. So surely you should consult your immigration lawyer before expiry to avoid issues.

For this daily commute reason only i had to ask for premium processing with my employer.
When i did the transfer (while pending and already joined the new employer), i waited inside US till I get the approval document on hand before i resumed travel.

 

[DEEPCUR]

I think that one should have valid I94 to cross the border. As far as i know, every time one enters US should establish eligibility and automatic validation rule expects valid I94. So not sure if they will allow as border guys used to trouble me (in the form of too many questions and too many secondary inspections and review of documents and long waiting time) while traveling with expired visa even when I94 is valid. So surely you should consult your immigration lawyer before expiry to avoid issues.

For this daily commute reason only i had to ask for premium processing with my employer.
When i did the transfer (while pending and already joined the new employer), i waited inside US till I get the approval document on hand before i resumed travel.

Yes, I am aware that i94 is needed to do AVR and cross border. Extension is one scenario where i94 could easily expire for someone. What if premium processing is suspended during the time of extension? It could be 6-7 months easily before one sees a result. It could cost someone's job right..

 

[harirajmohan]

Yes, I am aware that i94 is needed to do AVR and cross border. Extension is one scenario where i94 could easily expire for someone. What if premium processing is suspended during the time of extension? It could be 6-7 months easily before one sees a result. It could cost someone's job right..

I am not sure why it will cost the job. Only trouble (might be) is that you cannot commute (if lawyer says not to commute daily), in which case you can temporarily stay in US till you get your approval.

Unless you are doing transfer to another company or job profile/title change within the same company, premium processing is available for same job previously held and approved within same company.
uscis will not stop in the middle of the process once they accept the premium processing form. They will always stop from a certain date and for new applications that they have not accepted yet.
In the worst case, you can anyway stay in US for a while, not sure if your situation accommodates temporary stay in US.

 

[justinline]

Even with PP for extension do not expect you will get decision within 15 days. I know in my company people have gotten RFE on RFE. This is their third or fourth extension based based on I140. From Speciality Occupation to Education relevance to questioning the Expert opinions.....everything is being dragged out in endless loop of RFEs, with no consideration for previous approvals for same position and company.
Each cycle of RFE stops the PP clock, by the time lawyers receive the actual RFE, prepare their reply then Manager approves, then HR approves, then internal company Attorney approves........the RFE reply takes upward of month to file.

So better stay in US if I94 expired or else file well in advance (6 months max) in PP and pray all the RFE business are taken care of before the I94 expiry. Because of this people are even having issues renewing drivers license.

 

[DEEPCUR]

I am not sure why it will cost the job. Only trouble (might be) is that you cannot commute (if lawyer says not to commute daily), in which case you can temporarily stay in US till you get your approval.

Unless you are doing transfer to another company or job profile/title change within the same company, premium processing is available for same job previously held and approved within same company.
uscis will not stop in the middle of the process once they accept the premium processing form. They will always stop from a certain date and for new applications that they have not accepted yet.
In the worst case, you can anyway stay in US for a while, not sure if your situation accommodates temporary stay in US.

USCIS has allowed premium processing for extension without changes only this time. When they suspended premium processing last time, they didn't allow for any category. So relying on that narrow exception is not a guarantee it'll be the same in future.

Also as @justinline mentioned, RFE sets you back by at least 60-70 days on this. Even FTE s are getting RFE these days for various reasons. EC or EVC model definitely triggers RFE.

Also how is it practically possible to switch residence for several months to US leaving the family on the Windsor side? That's terrible quality of life and no way liberates someone from the bonds of H1b even with Canadian PR.

Also what if someone is laid off or project location changes to some other place other than Detroit or employment location changes for FTE s? Windsor is not Toronto to look for another job immediately, and it could cost someone's Canadian PR too if they happen to be on border of RO.

I think this daily commute mode would have been smooth until last year or so when RFE s and rejections were less common.. With so much uncertainty and stress, I'm not sure if this is same if it'd be as lucrative as before.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Even with PP for extension do not expect you will get decision within 15 days. I know in my company people have gotten RFE on RFE. This is their third or fourth extension based based on I140. From Speciality Occupation to Education relevance to questioning the Expert opinions.....everything is being dragged out in endless loop of RFEs, with no consideration for previous approvals for same position and company.
Each cycle of RFE stops the PP clock, by the time lawyers receive the actual RFE, prepare their reply then Manager approves, then HR approves, then internal company Attorney approves........the RFE reply takes upward of month to file.

So better stay in US if I94 expired or else file well in advance (6 months max) in PP and pray all the RFE business are taken care of before the I94 expiry. Because of this people are even having issues renewing drivers license.

But daily commuters have Canadian license right.. So license expiry shouldn't affect them at all.

 

[justinline]

But daily commuters have Canadian license right.. So license expiry shouldn't affect them at all.

Yes you are right.....daily commuters should be fine. They would have Canadian license. I was talking about people living there and living under uncertainty. Also I am trying to maintain a car in US side as well, so I will apply for the US license as well. In short I am more of a weekly commuter, I drive way deep into country land. For them Canada is as good as Ethiopia. I dont want to drive through such small town with Canadian plates and license all the time...already have been stopped by sheriff and told to get US license, I dint try to explain how I live in Canada as PR, work here and all the complexities involved....just trying to bring down the hassel level, as H1b we have lot of PIAs to deal with. Lets see, I am already very close to getting the oath date as well, may be I will be Canadian in month or two. Many things are up in air so researching all the options.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Yes you are right.....daily commuters should be fine. They would have Canadian license. I was talking about people living there and living under uncertainty. Also I am trying to maintain a car in US side as well, so I will apply for the US license as well. In short I am more of a weekly commuter, I drive way deep into country land. For them Canada is as good as Ethiopia. I dont want to drive through such small town with Canadian plates and license all the time...already have been stopped by sheriff and told to get US license, I dint try to explain how I live in Canada as PR, work here and all the complexities involved....just trying to bring down the hassel level, as H1b we have lot of PIAs to deal with. Lets see, I am already very close to getting the oath date as well, may be I will be Canadian in month or two. Many things are up in air so researching all the options.

Sounds crazy. But why to endure so much trying to 'work' in US for that extra money or keeping ties to get GC.. It puts someone in the same uncertainty stress as that of h1b isn't it? In fact it is worse than that with an additional stress of maintaining an immigration status of Canadian PR and be answerable to one more bunch of border officers.

Why not work three or four years straight in Toronto with any liveable salary and pursue US after that? If one can get a good US contract as PR , I'm pretty sure getting the same contract after citizen shouldn't be big deal at all. One can easily come back cap exempt with previously held h1b anytime in 6 years. If someone has i140, one may be able to reclaim the H1b even after six years with good documentation from attorney.

And i also don't understand how would life change after Canadian citizenship in US? One still lives in backlog limbo on h1b and needs to cross the same port of entry. Sure Canadian passport lets one fly around the world, but if that means coming back to US, it has the same element of risk as an Indian passport holder.. Cannot be a happy globe tottering for sure

It sounds like this analogy would perfectly fit.. Operation success, but the patient is dead.
Not trying to offend you, but am i missing something here?

 

[justinline]

Hmmm.....my friend you are asking all the right questions, no offence taken.

As far as I am concerned, US is not a viable option anymore especially for vast majority of Indians, they are waiting for nothing. I have already worked in Canada for over 4 years now, applied for citizenship, done test, called IRCC last week to confirm I am in waiting for oath now. Canadian citizenship will give more flexibility in terms of my weekly travel, I will be more at liberty to travel with lesser frequency (which I can technically do right now)........but I dont want to stop till I am done with oath and have Canadian passport in hand(because it is not done till its all done).
With Canadian passport if I get in next in a month or two......I will just export my car to US drive there peacefully till my project is done without having to buy another vehicle there. With Canadian PR card driving a US plate and license to commute regularly is big no no. I will be back in Canada no intentions of leaving.

Going back to US was just by chance, I was working for company in Canada happily, the project went live then the sister company in US wanted to implement the same what we did in Canada. So my manager asked me if I would be interested to go to US and do the same, I was like hell....yeah!! not because I get to go to US, for me US does not hold that kind of charm anymore. I happily accepted because, its almost free money for me, all the coding and documentation is done, I am just making changes for US entity. Plus between the Canadian entity and US entity, I will keep getting lot of remote work for many years to come......hopefully (but nothing is certainty I know enough to know that )...at least that is what I am investing in by trying to maintain feet in two boats.

My pursuit for Canadian citizenship is to make my life easier in Canada without having to worry about maintaining PR residency requirements and renewal concerns back of my mind. It has no bearing on US or GC there. Just for disclosure I do have a old GC petition with priority of March 2010, but not holding my breath for it. It will take another 4-5 years for priority dates to reach there. I am fine living in Canada, if GC happens that is fine if not then I am fine with it as well, if possible do few projects few months a year in US if not then its fine as well. For long term stay my base will be Canada. Yes the wages and hourly rates are lower in Canada and you get paid in CAD, but that is fine. If that is price you have to pay for peace of mind so be it.

Believe me as you grow older ....you place more and more premium on peace of mind.