Moving/Working in the US when from Canada

Elimination

I've never moved or worked in another country. Not entirely sure what papers I need or what I need to do to go about it? I have an offer i'd like to take in Tampa Florida, but I am in Vancouver BC. I am ok with the move, but not sure what I need to do. I don't have a lot of belongings and will only be moving mainly my PC, laptop, and clothes, the rest can be fire sold before my move and isnt worth taking.

Any tips, or how-to's, any info will be totally appreciated. Talk to me like i have no idea what I am doing, because I don't.

Eidt: Oh and housing is already arranged. So thats not a worry. It's only getting there and having the right papers ect that is the issue. I have no criminal record or anything either, if that helps.

Thanatos

Is the company you're working for arranging for your visa?

Elimination

Thanatos wrote:

Is the company you're working for arranging for your visa?

No, if i want to do this i have to do it all on my own. Since its optional.

Zeon

Unless the company you're going to work for is going to arrange this for you, good luck. Its almost impossible to get into the US as a canadian citizen without having a company sponsor your visa, which most companies cant/wont do for a new hire unless you have an incredibly specialized skill set. Part of the visa application process for a company is proving that there are no US citizens that can do the job.

Heres a link that will destroy your hopes and dreams:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=838e2f8b69583210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=838e2f8b69583210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

*edit*, yeah, that wont happen then.

Elimination

So it's impossible to work in the US as a Canadian essentially? Doesn't that make immigration rather difficult?

Zeon

You cant even immigrate to the US, you can only visit for 6 month periods and you cannot work during those times. The united states bars most normal immigration paths from certain countries (Canada, Mexico, etc) because too many immigrants come from those countries. You can apply for the greencard lottery but you most likely will never get it as its limited to ~50k people a year from all inelligible countries, and that number fluctuates based on certain other factors.

The only practical way for a normal canadian to immigrate to the US is to have a direct relative who is a citizen sponsor your visa, marry a united states citizen, or have an employer sponsor your visa. There are also other ways such as investing a large amount of money (500k dollars i think) into an american business, or proving you have a large amount of money you will bring with you (i think its over 5 million but i forget). Other than that, the system is entirely designed to prevent average people from becoming an american citizen. So yes, it is "difficult".

The USCIS site has a lot of information about immigrating to the united states. None of it will make you happy.

Corvus

Have you considered what effect getting paid in less valueable US dollars might have on your income? Just something to consider.

SwashbucklerXX

Yeah, if the company isn't willing to sponsor your Visa, you really don't want to take the offer. Unless it's a small business that has never dealt with international workers before, they should know better than to even make that kind of offer. You'd likely be tied up for years trying to get a Green Card on your own (I am not exaggerating here), and that's not useful for you or the company.

spool32

Also, it's illegal for the company to employ you. I can't believe they'd even extend an offer given that you're not a US citizen and have no work visa.

Ethea

To work in USA as a Canadian you need a visa. If you work for the company in a foreign office you can apply under a L-1 visa, otherwise you can look at applying under H1B or TN since you are Canadian. The TN is by far the easiest if your job qualifies as you don't have to visit an embassy.


If you go the route of a TN visa you will need your company to write papers of endorsement and proof of employment. If you go the H1B route you might not get approved until Oct 2012 as the 2011 lottery already happened.

Elimination wrote:

So it's impossible to work in the US as a Canadian essentially? Doesn't that make immigration rather difficult?

No it just requires larges amount of paperwork, the job to be considered valuable and some times the company to prove that they couldn't find a single american to do the job.

acidlacedpenguin

Zeon wrote:

You cant even immigrate to the US, you can only visit for 6 month periods and you cannot work during those times. The united states bars most normal immigration paths from certain countries (Canada, Mexico, etc) because too many immigrants come from those countries. You can apply for the greencard lottery but you most likely will never get it as its limited to ~50k people a year from all inelligible countries, and that number fluctuates based on certain other factors.

The only practical way for a normal canadian to immigrate to the US is to have a direct relative who is a citizen sponsor your visa, marry a united states citizen, or have an employer sponsor your visa. There are also other ways such as investing a large amount of money (500k dollars i think) into an american business, or proving you have a large amount of money you will bring with you (i think its over 5 million but i forget). Other than that, the system is entirely designed to prevent average people from becoming an american citizen. So yes, it is "difficult".

The USCIS site has a lot of information about immigrating to the united states. None of it will make you happy.

so what you're saying is that it's likely easier to immigrate to some other un-common country first and then immigrate to the US? That seems broken as hell, also dashed my hopes and dreams

I guess Elimination and I are going to end up in some sort of bidding war on craigslist over green-card marriage posts. . .

Ethea

acidlacedpenguin wrote:

Zeon wrote:

You cant even immigrate to the US, you can only visit for 6 month periods and you cannot work during those times. The united states bars most normal immigration paths from certain countries (Canada, Mexico, etc) because too many immigrants come from those countries. You can apply for the greencard lottery but you most likely will never get it as its limited to ~50k people a year from all inelligible countries, and that number fluctuates based on certain other factors.

The only practical way for a normal canadian to immigrate to the US is to have a direct relative who is a citizen sponsor your visa, marry a united states citizen, or have an employer sponsor your visa. There are also other ways such as investing a large amount of money (500k dollars i think) into an american business, or proving you have a large amount of money you will bring with you (i think its over 5 million but i forget). Other than that, the system is entirely designed to prevent average people from becoming an american citizen. So yes, it is "difficult".

The USCIS site has a lot of information about immigrating to the united states. None of it will make you happy.

so what you're saying is that it's likely easier to immigrate to some other un-common country first and then immigrate to the US? That seems broken as hell, also dashed my hopes and dreams

I guess Elimination and I are going to end up in some sort of bidding war on craigslist over green-card marriage posts. . .

The greencard lottery that is being talked about is the diversity lottery whose goal is to make sure that people from countries with low american immigration numbers still have a way to come to the country, as the normal paths ( H1B, marriage, family ) are not bringing enough people. It should be noted that the countries that are disqualified each bring in 50k+ new american green card holders over the last 5 years, which is tons compared to the number of slots in the lottery.

As a Canadian you can still apply for a green card after you get a dual intent visa like the H1B.

UrQuanLord88

I have done a lot of research on this issue. Getting a TN status is definitely the easiest route for Canadians and Mexicans to work in the States, if you have a relevant degree or a post secondary diploma and/or work experience.
This states the process:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1274.html
simplified,
http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/doing-business-in-america/tn-visas-professionals-under-nafta.html
In short, you need
1) Bring the original documentation and provide a copy of the applicant's college degree and employment records which establish qualification for the prospective job.
2) Provide a letter from the prospective U.S.-based employer offering him/her a job in the United States.

These are the professions and the requirements
http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/doing-business-in-america/professions-covered-by-nafta.html

Basically you get the status when you cross the border where you will be subject to scrutiny by a immigration officer. This is where things can get tricky and I would personally get a lawyer to prepare your documents for presentation. As long as you meet the requirements, you should be able to get the status.

Otherwise, in order to work in the States, you'd have to go through the same process as all other non-citizens do: get a H1-B visa sponsorship from your company. Which is limited and a hassle for your employer as mentioned by previous posters.

Elimination

Zeon wrote:

You cant even immigrate to the US, you can only visit for 6 month periods and you cannot work during those times. The united states bars most normal immigration paths from certain countries (Canada, Mexico, etc) because too many immigrants come from those countries. You can apply for the greencard lottery but you most likely will never get it as its limited to ~50k people a year from all inelligible countries, and that number fluctuates based on certain other factors.

The only practical way for a normal canadian to immigrate to the US is to have a direct relative who is a citizen sponsor your visa, marry a united states citizen, or have an employer sponsor your visa. There are also other ways such as investing a large amount of money (500k dollars i think) into an american business, or proving you have a large amount of money you will bring with you (i think its over 5 million but i forget). Other than that, the system is entirely designed to prevent average people from becoming an american citizen. So yes, it is "difficult".

The USCIS site has a lot of information about immigrating to the united states. None of it will make you happy.

Yeah i was reading some of the stuff, those are some massive barriers.

Ethea

UrQuanLord88 wrote:

I have done a lot of research on this issue. Getting a TN status is definitely the easiest route for Canadians and Mexicans to work in the States, if you have a relevant degree or a post secondary diploma and/or work experience.
This states the process
http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/doing-business-in-america/tn-visas-professionals-under-nafta.html
In short, you need
1) Bring the original documentation and provide a copy of the applicant's college degree and employment records which establish qualification for the prospective job.
2) Provide a letter from the prospective U.S.-based employer offering him/her a job in the United States.

These are the professions and the requirements
http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/doing-business-in-america/professions-covered-by-nafta.html

Basically you get the status when you cross the border where you will be subject to scrutiny by a immigration officer. This is where things can get tricky and I would personally get a lawyer to prepare your documents for presentation. As long as you meet the requirements, you should be able to get the status.

Otherwise, in order to work in the States, you'd have to go through the same process as all other non-citizens do: get a H1-B visa sponsorship from your company. Which is limited and a hassle for your employer as mentioned by previous posters.

From personal experience when doing a TN visa expect lots of hassles at the border. You will be grilled and be asked questions that are meant to cause you to invalidate your application. Remember that a TN isn't dual intent so you can't intend on staying in the US after the visa or doing anything to start a green card process. Also remember that on a TN visa every single time you re-enter the US you will have to apply for a new TN visa for the job you currently have.

Do not plan on flying into the US under a TN visa as you will miss your flight the majority of the times.

Note: My experiences are under the Computer Systems Analyst TN visa which is one the most exploited visa areas ( programming positions don't qualify under it).