Doing temporary I.T work in US...

Shy_Dave!

Hi guys, firstly I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this query! Your advice would be appreciated. Here's my situation -

I am an Irish national, living in Ireland. I do mostly developement work for clients in Ireland.
I have the possibility with a US-based client of having steady employment where they would have me work for them remotely most of the year while also travelling over there to work and train on site for a month or so every quarter.

My query is whether this is even possible, what are the requirements etc. from my research a H1B visa seems most suitable but difficult to obtain.
From my understanding an L visa wouldn't work as they do not have any offices here in Ireland. What other options are available?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

krissovo

An L visa could an option if the company has a EU based office and they are prepared to jump through some hoops. I got mine living in Ireland and they had an office in the UK, the whole process was handled by a specialist work Visa law firm based in New York. The embassy visit was a pain as I had to travel to London for the interview.

Plan B was that they were going to setup an office in Ireland with myself as the only employee as well as the country manager which would have qualified me for the L1A visa. After my original L1B ran out and I left the states for the reapplication I applied and got the L1A Visa which was a much simpler process.

It’s a long process and takes a lot of evidence to prove that your skills are unique and cannot be completed by a US citizen.

How do plan on getting on getting paid? I did two years full time in the states but then moved back and worked remotely. I was getting paid in US$ though my US bank account and had to balance the tax residency between Ireland and the states.

krissovo

Reading again you could get away with just using the Visa Waiver program. You get up to 90 days per visit and multiple entries is fine within reason.

I did this for a year while my Visa was being processed spending a month per quarter stateside but I remained a employee in Ireland.

Shy_Dave!

krissovo wrote: »

An L visa could an option if the company has a EU based office and they are prepared to jump through some hoops. I got mine living in Ireland and they had an office in the UK, the whole process was handled by a specialist work Visa law firm based in New York. The embassy visit was a pain as I had to travel to London for the interview.

Plan B was that they were going to setup an office in Ireland with myself as the only employee as well as the country manager which would have qualified me for the L1A visa. After my original L1B ran out and I left the states for the reapplication I applied and got the L1A Visa which was a much simpler process.

It’s a long process and takes a lot of evidence to prove that your skills are unique and cannot be completed by a US citizen.

How do plan on getting on getting paid? I did two years full time in the states but then moved back and worked remotely. I was getting paid in US$ though my US bank account and had to balance the tax residency between Ireland and the states.

Thanks for the great responses. They do not currently have any office outside the US but plan on perhaps opening one in the EU in the near future.

I have a social security number and bank account from working previously on a J1 visa so I would likely be getting paid into that.

Under the visa waiver program officially I wouldn't be allowed to work, correct?

firefly08

Shy_Dave! wrote: »

Thanks for the great responses. They do not currently have any office outside the US but plan on perhaps opening one in the EU in the near future.

I have a social security number and bank account from working previously on a J1 visa so I would likely be getting paid into that.

Under the visa waiver program officially I wouldn't be allowed to work, correct?

Yeah I don't think you can work for them while you're there on the VWP. Could you operate as a company and have them as a client? We have people who travel on the visa waiver program to do business stuff all the time. For the most part no one really cares what they do because they are employees of an Irish company. That said, I've known people to be grilled while doing this and even turned away on rare occasions.



I'd imagine you'd get a hard time from US customs trying to travel on the VWP when you're employed by a US company, if not a flat out refusal.

krissovo

Shy_Dave! wrote: »

Under the visa waiver program officially I wouldn't be allowed to work, correct?

Officially you can attend for business and 9 times out of 10 you get no further questions. All of the large US based companies use the Vwp to send employees to perform client or in-house activities which you would be performing.

I regularly send one of my mangers to the US for up to 6 weeks as we have a small team over there.

The only issue I have had with US border control is with a UK citizen of Asian decent. He was denied entry by a red neck officer in Atlanta, we now tend to do the pre-clearance rather than build up BA air miles.

You need to be careful of falling foul of the taxmen in both countries if you are getting paid stateside and you will need advice each side of the water.

OMM 0000

The US forum might be able to help you too:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=917

Shy_Dave!

krissovo wrote: »

Officially you can attend for business and 9 times out of 10 you get no further questions. All of the large US based companies use the Vwp to send employees to perform client or in-house activities which you would be performing.

I regularly send one of my mangers to the US for up to 6 weeks as we have a small team over there.

The only issue I have had with US border control is with a UK citizen of Asian decent. He was denied entry by a red neck officer in Atlanta, we now tend to do the pre-clearance rather than build up BA air miles.

You need to be careful of falling foul of the taxmen in both countries if you are getting paid stateside and you will need advice each side of the water.

So you essentially have these US companies as clients of your company and do work for them over there while on the vwp?

krissovo

Almost, we are the same company but we are different entities. I know for a fact that Amazon, google, Morgan Stanley, Citi bank, Apple, VMware etc. All take advantage of sending their Irish/UK based employees to work in the states under the conditions of the vwp.

circular flexing

Shy_Dave! wrote: »

Thanks for the great responses. They do not currently have any office outside the US but plan on perhaps opening one in the EU in the near future.

I have a social security number and bank account from working previously on a J1 visa so I would likely be getting paid into that.

Under the visa waiver program officially I wouldn't be allowed to work, correct?

You cannot be directly paid by a US company while on the VWP - in fact I would be surprised if the US company entered into such an arrangement.

srsly78

You would be exporting services from Ireland, and paying Irish tax.

Visas and American tax are not relevant.

Even when on business trips over there you would apply Irish vat and recharge to customer.

The key point is they are your customer, not employer.

circular flexing

krissovo wrote: »

... to work in the states under the conditions of the vwp.

Having worked for one of the companies you listed, I was never sent over to work, I was always sent over for meetings with colleagues/managers and training. I certainly wouldn't mention anything about working or use the word work with a border agent.

Shy_Dave!

I really appreciate the help and discussion so far guys, Thank You!