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Ask HN: Can A US Company Bring In a Foreign Freelancer for 2 Months Legally?
I'm a Rails freelancer based in the UK and a company in San Fran offered me a contract on the condition that I come over and work with them locally.
I'm not a US national. I'm Irish and I am set up as a sole trader. (A sole trader is an independent businessman, not quite a private limited company.) Would it be possible for me to come to the US for 2 months and complete the contract? Is there anything I, or my employer, should be careful with?
- byoung2 15y agoIANAL, but it seems like it can't be done legally. Here's an example I was able to dig up: http://www.workpermit.com/us/employee.htm#UScandFreelance http://www.workpermit.com/us/employee.htm#UScandFreelance And this one makes it sound more grim if you were considering doing it while on a tourist visa: In the eyes of CBP, the arrangement appears to be a circumvention of work authorization laws by paying a foreign individual in exchange for work, even when payment is made to a foreign account. Furthermore, in the independent contractor situation, the actual “work” often involves consulting, research or analysis that primarily takes place on U.S. soil. If the principal activity happens in the U.S. and the benefit is retained by the U.S. company, it will constitute unauthorized employment by a business visitor. http://www.shipmangoodwin.com/files/Publication/ec95917d-8268-4932-b9c2-1096bb77cab0/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/65201174-350b-493b-a7de-2307c0a29132/Reprint_ECKERT_072610.pdf http://www.shipmangoodwin.com/files/Publication/ec95917d-826...
- jackkinsella 15y agoThanks, very informative. (And depressing.)
- byoung2 15y agoIt seems so silly. Apparently, you could come to the US to scope out the requirements, but you would have to do the actual work outside the US. The US doesn't want you here for 2 months, staying in one of our hotels, buying groceries, going to restaurants, or buying our gas. That might actually stimulate our economy.