Can I continue working in US and receive salary in USD after moving to Canada?

[yodheydhara]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum and have recently received the request for passports (PPR). I am currently in US and am working on H1B visa. My current visa is valid till June 2017. Once I receive my passport and COPR back, I intent to move to Canada along with my dependants as soon as possible. With that said, I currently do not have a job offer in Canada.
Can I continue working for the same company in US but work remotely work from Canada? Since I still possess a valid H1B visa, is this allowed or legal? The idea is to move to Canada as soon as possible, but continue working with my current job until I find a job in Canada.

Any help or guidance here is highly appreciate!!

 

[aru_nj]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum and have recently received the request for passports (PPR). I am currently in US and am working on H1B visa. My current visa is valid till June 2017. Once I receive my passport and COPR back, I intent to move to Canada along with my dependants as soon as possible. With that said, I currently do not have a job offer in Canada.
Can I continue working for the same company in US but work remotely work from Canada? Since I still possess a valid H1B visa, is this allowed or legal? The idea is to move to Canada as soon as possible, but continue working with my current job until I find a job in Canada.

Any help or guidance here is highly appreciate!!

As long as you are working outside the US, you are not subject to US immigration laws. So you will not be limited in your ability to work for this company while you are outside of the US, even though it is a US company. Since you are looking to work outside of your home country, the work/immigration laws you need to be concerned about are the laws of that country.

Also, a person can only be in H1b status while he or she is physically present in the US. Even if you currently have H1b status and have not used up all your H1b time, you are not in H1b status when you travel abroad. This is true even if you continue working remotely for the US company while you are abroad. The time you spend working abroad does not count toward your 6 year maximum H1b limit.

 

[andy108]

You will need to see the legal way to work in CA i.e. Self-employed?

and your employer will also have to change the way you legally employed there...

 

[yodheydhara]

You will need to see the legal way to work in CA i.e. Self-employed?

and your employer will also have to change the way you legally employed there...

Thank you Andy108! I was trying to ascertain if at all there is a possibility for me to continue to work remotely until I find a job in Canada. This is definitely a route I can take - have my own company set up and get into a contracting mode with the current company. The employer would then have to pay me in CAD, so that my taxation and everything is taken care of as per the Canadian law. Is that right?

 

[yodheydhara]

As long as you are working outside the US, you are not subject to US immigration laws. So you will not be limited in your ability to work for this company while you are outside of the US, even though it is a US company. Since you are looking to work outside of your home country, the work/immigration laws you need to be concerned about are the laws of that country.

Also, a person can only be in H1b status while he or she is physically present in the US. Even if you currently have H1b status and have not used up all your H1b time, you are not in H1b status when you travel abroad. This is true even if you continue working remotely for the US company while you are abroad. The time you spend working abroad does not count toward your 6 year maximum H1b limit.

Thank you Aru_Nj! I didnt realize about the last part you mentioned about H1B status while being on US soil. The company actually is Indian and one of the options I am planning to try out is to see if they can make an employee of their Canada division. This would be smoother transformation, but of course as Andy108 suggested, having my own company and getting into a contracting mode would be another option (a little bit more time consuming per my knowledge, but not sure).
Even if I do continue being employed for the same company (the US division), I would have to get my paychecks in CAD and the Canadian taxation laws would apply. Right?

 

[aru_nj]

Thank you Aru_Nj! I didnt realize about the last part you mentioned about H1B status while being on US soil. The company actually is Indian and one of the options I am planning to try out is to see if they can make an employee of their Canada division. This would be smoother transformation, but of course as Andy108 suggested, having my own company and getting into a contracting mode would be another option (a little bit more time consuming per my knowledge, but not sure).
Even if I do continue being employed for the same company (the US division), I would have to get my paychecks in CAD and the Canadian taxation laws would apply. Right?

When you are out of US for one month , that one month can be added to your H1b visa via while you extent your H1b. That why its said that you are out of H1b status while you dont have valid I94(out of US).

You can ask transfer to Canada if your company have operation in Canada.

 

[dks2323]

having my own company and getting into a contracting mode would be another option (a little bit more time consuming per my knowledge, but not sure).

Not at all Time consuming....Its called Incorporation in Canada....Its an online process and you can do it yourself....if you are not comfortable doing it yourself then go to a tax consultant or any consultant who can do incorporation....it wont take more than an hour...the govt fees is around 350 CAD + consultant fees....and that's it....you have your registered company.....

 

[yodheydhara]

When you are out of US for one month , that one month can be added to your H1b visa via while you extent your H1b. That why its said that you are out of H1b status while you dont have valid I94(out of US).

You can ask transfer to Canada if your company have operation in Canada.

Aru_Nj, that is going to be my first option - asking my current employer if there is a way I can be transferred as a Canada employee and then can continue to work remotely.

 

[yodheydhara]

Not at all Time consuming....Its called Incorporation in Canada....Its an online process and you can do it yourself....if you are not comfortable doing it yourself then go to a tax consultant or any consultant who can do incorporation....it wont take more than an hour...the govt fees is around 350 CAD + consultant fees....and that's it....you have your registered company.....

This is great information! If I cant work out something with my current employer, this surely looks like the option I can go with!

 

[riasat.abir]

You can continue working remotely in Canada even if you receive pay checks in foreign currency. There is no problem with that, many people do outsourcing. It's like self employment. Even I worked for a small startup as self employed. Just pay your tax accordingly.
And it's totally upto your us company to let you work remotely.

 

[darthvader2015]

If we are on H1B and green card application in progress, can we live in Canada close to border and work in US everyday? My field of work is healthcare related so I can find a job in cities in close proximity to border. Also my student loan would be enormous so I will have to work in US to pay it off as I have researched Canada doesn't offer that much big job offers. I don't want to lose my hard earned PR status. Please advice. Is there a condition on H1B to be physically sleep in US to keep it valid ?

 

[DreamCanada16]

This is great information! If I cant work out something with my current employer, this surely looks like the option I can go with!

Well u have all options open e.g. U can open ur own company and charge invoice to ur US company. This ll save lot of tax as well. Another one is u can work for ur US company as an employee even if they dont have operations in Canada. But in that case u need an CPA hired by ur US company who can file taxes to Canadian Govt on behalf ur company. U ll be on payroll of US company , they need to open an payroll account. U can have USD or CAD .

Or if they have Canadian operations and then get urself transfer. the easiest in all

further to work remotely in Canada for a company based in US u dont need H1B or any other visa at all. U have to pay taxes to Canada Govt it doesn't matter from where ur get and in what currency if ur residing in Canada.

 

[SecularFirst]

I have similar question on H1b, anyone ?